


What Came from the Shadows

by InkstainedGwyn



Category: Persona 4
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Twins, Angst, Fluff, Game Spoilers, Happy Ending for everybody involved, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-09 07:38:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7792645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkstainedGwyn/pseuds/InkstainedGwyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yu and Souji are twin leaders for the IT, and both fall in love with Yosuke - who only has feelings for one of them. On top of it all, secrets the twins didn't even realize they had threaten to tear them apart; can the two stay inseparable through it all? Mostly written from Yu's PoV, with a few exceptions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So. This is one of several stories that came off a prompt I received for "Twins, Yu & Souji, fighting over Yosuke". This one isn't so simple, but it has (what I think) is one of the best (happiest) endings it could have given that situation. _This is very much an AU._ Not just because Yu and Souji both exist, but because shadows, and the shadow world don't work _exactly_ the same way that they do in the game. November onwards will be tweaked to fit, as well. I hesitated at starting another multi-chapter story, but this one won't be too long, and I've already got it all planned out (so it shouldn't take much time from TaFH).
> 
> **Shadows, and the shadow world, do not work exactly as they do in the game. The plot is also going to be recognisable, but different. I will do my best to explain everything when it happens/is relevant, but if you're ever confused about anything just let me know and I'll try to explain it as well as try to make it clearer in the story.**
> 
>  Also, this is me. You can be certain everyone's going to be happy in the end.
> 
> Here's my [tumblr](https://ohlookashinysquirrel.tumblr.com) if you want to poke at me.

“Whatcha talking about?” 

Yu dropped onto the bench next to Yosuke; the brunette had been turned to face Souji as the two talked, quietly. The rest of the group was split into their own little pairs - Chie, Yukiko, and Kanji, and Rise and Naoto (Teddie was working) - talking about what-have-you; at the sound of Yu’s voice, however, focus came back to three boys. 

“We’re just talking about the new karaoke place that opened in Okina.” Souji’s voice was, as usual, quieter than his twin’s; he shot Yu a quick glance.

“Ooooh, karaoke?” Rise’s attention was immediately theirs. “We should all go! Don’t tell me you were planning to go without me, Souji-senpai? That’s too cruel!” 

“Of course not. We should all make an afternoon of it.” Yosuke grinned.

“Sounds like a plan, right Souj?” Yu threw his arm across Yosuke’s shoulders in order to give his brother a friendly push; Yosuke flushed ever-so-slightly, and Souji - looking away for a brief moment - nodded. His smile wasn’t forced, however; whatever tension was currently between the twins, the two were still close.

“Yeah. We can get dinner afterwards.”

“Yay! Group trip!” Chie pumped her fist in the air. “Let’s get steak! Hey, Yukiko, when are you free?”

As they started to talk about what day they wanted to go, Souji looked up at the food court clock. Seeing that it was getting late, he slipped his books into his satchel, standing up; Yosuke immediately turned to look at him.

“You leaving, partner?”

“Yeah.” A nod. “I’m cooking tonight, and Nanako’s piano lessons should just be over. I’ll pick her up on the walk home.”

“Oh, man. I’ll come with you!” The brunette scrambled to grab his things. “I haven’t seen Nanako-chan at all this week.”

“She’ll be glad to see you. She asks if you’re coming over almost every night.” Souji caught Yu’s eye; the louder (and, according to him, centimeter-taller) twin was watching his brother and Yosuke with a look that almost bordered on forlorn. “Coming with us, Yu?”

Yu took a second to look back at the group that was still planning; he was more outgoing than his brother and enjoyed hanging out more than spending time at home, but after another glance at Souji and Yosuke, he nodded.

“Yeah. Hey, guys.” He turned back to the group. “Make it a group text, we’ll all figure it out.”

“Aw, man, are you guys leaving? Gotta go home and cook for Nanako-chan, right, Souji?” Chie pouted. “Well, I guess I better head home, too. Gotta walk the dog.”

“And I should be getting back to the inn.” Yukiko stood, ready to leave with Chie. 

“See you guys tomorrow at school.” Yu grinned amidst groans, and they all headed their separate ways.

* * *

Yu and Souji had been living with their uncle in Inaba since the beginning of the school year. Their mother, who’d never really recovered her health after being in a car wreck that killed her husband when the twins were only a few months old, was declining; she was living now with their grandmother, and the boys were living with Dojima indefinitely. It was a sad affair, but they had mostly been raised by their grandmother, so their mother was more of a distant relative to them - though they certainly cared for her. 

Whether because of this family dynamic, or simply because they were twins, they’d always been inseparable. Yu, the outgoing twin, had always been protective of Souji, who was quieter and more subdued. Amongst the group, Yu was the leader, but Souji was the voice of wisdom.

They were identical, but not _exactly_. Yu wore his silver hair a little shorter than Souji's, and his grey eyes were a shade paler, with faint brown flecks that were only visible if you got very close; Souji’s eyes were slightly darker grey, with a bluer tone. He preferred darker, more muted clothing, whereas Yu was often found in canary yellow, grass green, or other bright colours. Souji had a crooked front tooth - only noticeable at certain angles - from falling on the stairs, years ago, and Yu had several scars on his forearms and one on his forehead; remnants from their days in grade school when bullies - thinking that quieter twin would be a good target - would try to pick on Souji. Yu wasn’t exactly Chie when it came to fights, but nobody had ever messed with Souji twice. 

Personality-wise, they weren’t identical at all, although both were good-hearted and kind. Souji was quiet and studious, the kind of boy who’d tried to nurse injured animals as a child; Yu had always been brash and loud - often, to his chagrin, scaring his brother’s pets - and he was more cynical. An odd trait for someone so good at inspiring others, but his cynicism was often self-directed.

Their interests differed in school, as well; Yu was in drama - a perfect fit for someone so outgoing - and Souji took band, where he was happy to blend into the group. Yu was the second-best soccer player at Yasogami high - often giving their friend Daisuke Nagase a run for his money - whereas Souji played basketball. He was no Kou Ichijo, but he was a good, solid backup player. 

Both had fans at school - they were strikingly handsome, either despite or because of the silver hair and grey eyes - and their intense devotion to one another caused more than one girl to sigh dreamily. Each had their individual fans, of course, as well as those that admired them both, but neither boy had ever shown an interest in anything romantic.

That was, of course, until they met Yosuke Hanamura.

* * *

Yosuke had been their first friend when the school year started (his first words to the two had been “Ahahaha, what the hell’s up with the twin bowl cuts, you guys?," but as Yu liked to remind him, they’d also pulled him out of a trash can on the second day, so they were pretty much even.) He called Souji “partner” and Yu “bro”; the twins had stood shoulder-to-shoulder when they faced his shadow, and both had accepted it without question, to Yosuke's intense relief. As Yosuke put it, they’d been there for each other, without fail, since the beginning. 

Still, there hadn’t been anything between them beyond hard-and-fast friendship until an evening several weeks before the karaoke conversation, when Souji rolled over to tap on the wooden bar between his and Yu's bunks (he’d taken the top, as he had a habit of cocooning in the corner to read, where no one could find him.)

“Hey, Yu.”

“Mmmm?” His twin, who’d been going over soccer plays in his mind, leaned out; Souji was leaning over the edge, and they’d often carried on conversations that way. 

“What do you think about Yosuke?” 

There was an odd tone to his twin’s voice that Yu wasn’t sure he liked, but he just raised an eyebrow. 

“Uh…? He’s my best friend, after you? Your best friend, too, right? I mean, we both know he’s a clumsy idiot but that’s not the issue here, is it? Did something happen?” His face hardened. _If Yosuke’s started giving Souji shit for something, I’ll_ -

“No! No, I mean yes, well no, but-” Souji flushed, pulling back a bit. “Uh, it’s nothing. Just… nevermind.”

Frowning, Yu climbed off the bed and up the first few rungs of the ladder. “Oh no, no, no. What’s going on, Souj? Is Yosuke bullying you? If he is-”

“No!” Souji, who’d hidden himself behind a pillow with an embarrassed face, dropped it in a panic. “No! Yosuke would never do anything like that. You know that as well as I do, Yu!”

His brother took a deep breath. “Okay, fair enough. Sorry. But what’s wrong, then? Come on, Souj. We tell each other everything, right? You know you can talk to me if something’s up.”

“Okay…” Taking a deep breath, Souji wrapped his arms a little more tightly around the pillow, resting his chin on the top of it. “Do you… think he’s cute?”

“Cute-? _Yosuke?_ ” The question floored Yu, who had to blink at his brother. “I never really… thought about it? I guess he-” At that moment, he saw how red Souji’s cheeks were, and his stomach sank. “Wait. Do you _like_ him?”

“Yeah… I think so.” Souji’s voice was quiet, his face still hidden against the pillow. 

For a while, Yu was silent; at his brother’s “Yeah” his stomach - already sinking - had completely flipped, and he had to push back the rising dread in his chest. He knew Souji was looking at him, though - waiting for something, either approval or ridicule - and the worry on his twin’s face was enough to snap Yu out of his panic, at least momentarily. 

“Does he like you back? Have you told him?”

“Of course not!” Souji’s eyes widened in panic, and - although he was immediately stricken by guilt for it - Yu felt relief. 

_Maybe it’s just a phase. Maybe nothing will come of it_. The idea of someone coming between himself and his brother wasn’t even something he was willing to put into conscious thought. Still, he loved his twin, and this obviously meant a lot to him; Yu smiled so naturally that not even Souji could tell that it was forced. 

“Well, I mean, we spend a lot of time together, you know? It’s not unusual.”

“You think so?” The quieter twin looked relieved at this. “Please don’t tell him.”

“Of course not.” Yu snorted. “When have I ever spilled a secret?”

“Well, there was that one time in third grade...” 

“ _Hey!_ You were trying to find your hamster, I just wanted to help, and-” Yu stopped when he saw the glint in Souji’s eye; he grabbed the pillow only to find that his brother was smirking at him. “Ohhhh, it’s on, now…” 

He threw the pillow at Souji, who dodged and caught it; Yu ducked into his own bunk as Souji leaned off the side, pelting his brother with bean-bag animals that had been sitting in a pile on top of the wardrobe next to the bed since Kanji had left them there one afternoon.

Using his own pillow as a shield, Yu reached under his bed; grabbing his katana (Souji kept his behind the wardrobe), he made sure it was sheathed before poking it up the back of the bed, managing to smack Souji’s backside before his brother could turn around. 

Yelping, Souji swung off the top bunk - after months of TV-world fights, both twins had learned more than their fair share of gymnastics - and tackled Yu. He was just tickling his _very_ ticklish brother when there was a knock at the door.

“Hey! Knock it off, Nanako’s in bed.”

At the sound of their uncle’s voice, the twins immediately froze; in unison, they called out “Sorry, uncle!” Once they’d heard his footsteps fade back towards his room, they looked at each other; bursting into laughter, they had to bury their faces in Yu’s pillow to keep from drawing their uncle’s wrath. Once they’d finally caught their breath, Souji - who’d been half-sprawled across Yu - gave his brother a quick hug.

“Night, Yu.”

“Night, Souj.” Yu ruffled Souji’s hair; his brother stuck his tongue out at him before climbing back into his bunk. 

Despite the fact that the atmosphere had lifted, however, it still took Yu a long time to fall asleep that night.

* * *

The next few weeks progressed as normal, except that Yu found himself watching Yosuke more and more often. Ostensibly, he told himself that it was to gauge the brunette’s feelings for Souji; he also wanted to figure out just what it _was_ about the guy that Souji liked. Yu had never had a crush before, and he just didn’t get it. 

He had to admit that Yosuke _was_ cute. The brunette had a honest, open face; he had his sad and unhappy moments - something the twins knew well, having helped him work through his feelings for Saki Konishi - but cheerful was his default mood, and he always lightened up a room. Sometimes he could be stupid or thoughtless, but all you had to do was call him on it and he’d realize his mistake, and either fix it or apologize. 

_He’s a good match for Souj, too_. Yu was watching the two one day, as everyone sat at Junes, studying; Souji was the best student there, and Yu and Yosuke were _supposedly_ listening to him explain linear equations. The brunette was definitely paying attention, but Yu was more focused on watching his brother and best friend.

 _Man, Yosuke’s eyes really light up every time Souj smiles at him, don’t they? I don’t think I ever realized just how bright and brown they are, either… ugh. He’s certainly outgoing enough to make Souj feel comfortable, but… is it enough? Would he be_ happy _with someone as quiet as Souj?_

He hadn’t realized that he was frowning until Chie - who’d been sitting at the next table, going over geography with Yukiko, elbowed him.

“Jeeze, Yu! You keep staring at Yosuke and you look like somebody kicked your cat. Got a crush?”

This wasn’t said _that_ loudly - certainly neither Yosuke nor Souji had given any signs of hearing it - but Yu immediately turned crimson, spinning towards Chie, who was smirking at him.

“ _Shhh!_ ” 

“Oh, you do?” She’d lowered her voice, but she obviously wasn’t going to let it go. The thought, meanwhile, made Yu pause.

 _Shit. Do I?_ He didn’t _get_ it, that much he was certain - but he also had to admit that there was _something_ about the brunette, something that made his sinking feelings more complicated than just “not wanting to lose his twin.” _Shit. I do. That's got to be it_.

He shrugged. “I guess so. Keep quiet about it, though, will you?”

Chie - who looked like the cat who’d swallowed the canary - grinned and nodded; Yukiko, who’d been in the bathroom, walked up before she could say anything else, however, and they got back to studying.

* * *

That night, the twins were lying in bed - Yu was trying desperately to _stop thinking about Yosuke_ and go to sleep, seriously, there was a _game_ tomorrow - when Souji tapped on the wooden bar between their bunks again; it was a quieter tap, this time, and hesitant, but it was enough to catch his brother’s attention.

“What’s up?”

There was silence for long enough that Yu wondered if Souji had fallen asleep; finally, after a shaky sigh, he heard his brother’s voice - it was even quieter than usual, and sounded sad.

“You like Yosuke, too?”

 _Oh. **Shit**_. Clearly, Souji _had_ heard Chie earlier - or else he’d noticed the same signs that she had. The sadness in his voice smote his twin’s heart, and Yu wanted to sink through the floor, angry with himself for not thinking about how it would affect Souji. Still, they’d never lied to each other, and he wasn’t about to start.

“I… don’t know. But I think so. I still… it’s confusing. You know how it is, right?”

“Not really.” Souji exhaled heavily; his brother could hear it even in the bottom bunk. “I _know_ I like Yosuke. But I’m sure everybody falls in love in a different way.”

 _In love?_ Yu hadn’t realized that Souji was already so far, and the thought terrified him even more than the reminder that, yet again, something _different_ was coming between them. He took a deep breath. 

“I’m… sorry, Souj. I really didn’t mean-”

He trailed off when he heard movement in his brother’s bunk; after a moment, his twin’s head appeared over the side. 

“Yu. Stop it.” Souji’s voice was gentle. “I would never want you to apologize for your feelings, okay? This isn’t a race. You can’t change how you feel; I can’t, either. I wouldn’t ask you to.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” His own voice was shaky, and he had to fight the lump in his throat - whether it was over Yosuke or his brother, he wasn’t sure. There was movement again out of the corner of his eye; when he looked up, he saw that Souji had leaned farther out and was holding his hand out. With a faint smile, Yu reached up, and they lightly bumped knuckles. “Thanks, Souj.”

“Of course. Now go to sleep, you’ve got a game tomorrow, and I need to be there to cheer you on.” 

The reminder - and the voice in which it was given - was warm enough to make Yu feel a little better, but he went to sleep with the unspoken feeling that things were never going to be quite the same again between the two of them.

* * *

That had been before they’d rescued Naoto; at first, nothing really _had_ changed between them. They were still devoted to each other, but now… there was Yosuke. Yu _still_ wasn’t 100% certain as to whether he was more worried about losing Yosuke, or losing Souji; so far, nothing had happened between the two, and they’d never tried to go off by themselves - although that might be because he made sure always to be around, as with karaoke in Okina.

Souji didn’t seem to mind, though - or, at least, he always had a smile for his brother, even if he sometimes watched Yu and Yosuke interact with a sadness that he couldn’t quite hide. Yosuke was oblivious; he seemed to be perfectly content with the three of them continuing on as they always had, hanging out and going to movies and playing video games together.

Then, Nanako disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of What Came from the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this was really draining to write.
> 
> Here's my [tumblr](https://ohlookashinysquirrel.tumblr.com) if you want to poke at me.

Yosuke was certain that, when looking back, no one in their group would ever be able to forget that November - least of all Souji and Yu. He felt like he could reasonably add himself to that pairing, but he didn’t want to be selfish; everybody felt it when Nanako was kidnapped, but it _devastated_ the twins. 

Things had already been tense. After they saved Naoto, things seemed to die down in regards to the TV world - but at the same time, the fog rolled into Inaba, and nobody knew why, or how to deal with it. Even Teddie didn’t know, no matter how many times he went back to check out the other world. They were getting frustrated, and to top it off, Yu had been needling at Souji for weeks. It was subtle, but to Yosuke it felt like something about Yu was _off_ … 

_But then I also could just be biased_. The brunette had already come to terms with the fact that he had a huge crush - if not worse - on Souji. He liked both the brothers immensely - they were closer friends than he’d ever had before, and honestly he’d probably be willing to die for either of them ( _though yeah let’s never have to test that thanks_ ) but… well. To Yosuke, Yu was a brother, but Souji - Souji was something more. 

_Yu’s always so confident. He needs Souji, yeah, but anybody else? Not so much. He’s our glittering leader, and we’re all grateful to follow him, but I’m pretty sure he could do all of this himself. Souji, though… Souji makes me feel strong, important, like I matter. Like what I do and what I say is important to him. And when I need him, he’s always the first one to notice, sometimes even before I know it myself. And when he smiles_ \- A flush; he could feel his fingers growing warm. _It’s so_ bright. 

Whatever his feelings for Souji, however, Yosuke cared for both brothers; seeing them at odds, no matter how slight, _hurt_. Then, Nanako disappeared; no one ever got the full story, given that so much happened at once and - understandably so - neither twin wanted to talk much about it once things had settled down. Yosuke got the idea, from something Souji had said, that Yu and his uncle had almost gotten into a fight, but that was all he knew. 

The team rescued Nanako in record time - that much was a given. Yosuke was glad, not least because seeing the twins so distraught - Yu so angry he was cold, to the point where the brunette was worried he’d get himself killed in some impossible fight; Souji so sad that it seemed like he’d never smile again - tore his heart. But now, Nanako was sick. No one knew why - _we saved her, and in time!_ \- and it was eating at everyone. _It’s probably why they’re at odds sometimes… it can’t be easy on either of them._

Yosuke sat in the waiting room one afternoon; they’d come along to see Nanako, but visitors were still limited to family, and although the brunette might be “Yosuke-nii” to the little girl, the twins were still the only ones other than Dojima who were allowed in. It wasn’t a stretch to say he hated it, but he also knew it was because he hated not being able to be _there_ for his friends.

He looked up at the clock - he didn’t have to work that afternoon, at least. The rest of the group was going to be along soon, and they all planned to get dinner - Yosuke was relatively certain that if he hadn’t trailed behind the twins every day and harassed them to hang out with him and eat at night they’d probably be skipping meals - but he also knew that if they needed extra time with Nanako, well, that was more important than Chinese food. _We can grab something from Junes if we have to. Or maybe I can help Souji make curry_. 

Just as he thought this, he heard Nanako’s door open; the brunette looked up as the twins emerged, both looking drawn and tired. Scooting over on the couch, he made room for both of them; Souji took the seat next to him, and he tried to ignore how his heart leapt, ever so slightly. 

They both looked worn, but Souji looked peaked; Yu just looked angry - he always seemed to be sullen, these days - but Yosuke was legitimately worried that Souji was neglecting himself enough to get sick. 

Turning, he hesitated, then put a hand on Souji’s shoulder. “Hey, partner. You don’t look so great. Are you sure you’re getting enough sleep?”

“I’m fine, Yosuke. Really. But thanks.” The small, hurt smile Souji gave him was almost worse than no smile at all, and his heart clenched.

With his back to Yu, Yosuke failed to see the expression on the other twin’s face.

* * *

Ever since the fog had appeared outside the TV world, Yu had felt irritable. He attributed it, at some level, to his frustration and confusion over Yosuke and Souji; there was something else, though - something that he couldn’t pinpoint, even though he was vaguely aware of it. Every time he stepped outside, it was like the fog was inside his brain, making him think things he didn’t want to think.

He knew the rest of the group was starting to notice, too - he’d raise his voice (at Souji, more often than not, to his own dismay) or he’d snap at Teddie, and Yukiko would raise an eyebrow at him, or Rise would tell him not to be mean. He’d apologize, or laugh it off, and everything would be okay… except that, inside, he knew it wasn’t. Inside, he was falling apart, and he didn’t know why.

Part of it was Yosuke, he knew _that_ much. Even if Souji had no idea, Yu watched the two of them enough to notice the lingering glances the brunette had started to give his brother, and each one _hurt_. Each one made him wonder when it would finally be too much, when it would finally come to light, and they’d realize they were both in love with each other, and then… then they wouldn’t need Yu any more. 

It had gotten worse since Nanako had disappeared, especially now that she was sick. Yu already blamed himself for the whole thing - if he hadn’t flown off the handle when Dojima accused Souji of keeping secrets, their uncle might never have taken them down to the station. Now he was stuck watching the little cousin he’d come to think of as a sister struggle even to breathe, and whenever he turned around, Yosuke was already there to comfort Souji. 

Yu knew it was unfair of himself to resent it - after all, half the time Souji tried to comfort him, he just snapped at him; of _course_ it was easier for him to accept Yosuke’s support. And why should he blame his brother? _Souj is in love with Yosuke; of course he’s going to want to accept and reciprocate if Yosuke wants to hug him, or pat his shoulder, or whatever else. I know I would_. It wasn’t like Souji was ignoring Yu - overall, very little in his brother’s attitude had changed. And it wasn’t like Yosuke wasn’t still supportive of Yu, too - the brunette had a heart of gold, and objectively Yu knew that there was room for more in there than “just Souji”. Therefore, Yu knew he _shouldn’t_ resent it - but, of course, he _did_.

_I miss Souji. I miss spending time with him and Yosuke at the riverbank or at the arcade or wherever without feeling mad. Without feeling sad, or jealous, or suspicious. Why? Why does it have to be this way? He doesn’t even need me any more… he’s got Yosuke._

_Don’t either of them see how_ I _feel?_

They’d been visiting Nanako one afternoon - the little girl was still too sick to even recognize them - when everything finally came to a head. When they rejoined Yosuke outside, where he’d been waiting for them so that they could go to Aiya's with the group, Souji sat down beside the brunette, who immediately turned to comfort him - and something inside Yu snapped.

“Well, since I’m not needed here I’m just going to go home.”

He turned on his heel, intending to stalk away; he barely had time to see Souji’s head fly up - his expression one of confusion and hurt - before his brother scrambled to his feet, grabbing his arm.

“Yu? What’s wrong-”

At any other time, the _concern_ in his twin’s voice would have been enough to soothe Yu’s temper, but today it just made the anger worse. He shook his arm, practically flinging his brother’s hand off. 

“What’s wrong? Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that these days you couldn’t care less whether or not I was even here, as long as Yosuke’s around? Nevermind the fact that we’ve been together forever, that I’ve been with you through everything, you don’t even need me any more! Am I not good enough?”

Souji’s expression was heartbroken, _hurt_ , but Yu’s guilt and pain only served to twist his stomach, making him feel worse, angrier, _lonelier_. Even as some small voice in the back of his head begged him to stop, he felt the anger taking over, and he clenched his fists. 

“Why him? Why Yosuke? How can you pick him over me?” 

It was finally enough to push Souji to fight back. Standing straight - looking both angry and hurt - he met his brother’s gaze. “You ask “why Yosuke” as if you don’t know that I’m in love with him - like I thought _you were too_ \- but I’ve never _once_ picked him over you! You know it’s true!” He ignored the sound of Yosuke’s gasp behind him as he pointed at Yu, leaning in. “I’ve _always_ been here for you, I’ve never, _ever_ asked him to go out without you, I’ve tried everything I can not to hurt you and make you hate me, and it’s not enough! What more can I do? I don’t know _what_ to do!” When he reached up to put his hands to his face, he realized he’d been crying.

Yu - whose own tear-streaked face was a mixture of agony and guilt - had just reached out to grab Souji’s wrist when Chie stepped between them. Both boys looked startled - they’d been so busy yelling that they hadn’t realized that the rest of the group had arrived - and this gave her the chance to put a hand on both their chests, pushing them apart. 

“Calm the hell down, you two! I know things are bad right now but you can’t fight! Not here, in the hospital! You’re right outside Nanako-chan’s room, and-”

Just as she said this, Nanako’s door burst open and two nurses came running out. One headed down the hall; the other started in the other direction, but changed course when she saw the group standing there. 

“Come quick, please! Hurry!”

The fight wasn’t _forgotten_ , but it was less important than Nanako. Souji and Yu ran into the little girl’s room, followed by the rest of the group; when they got inside, they saw the doctors huddled beside the bed, talking in low voices. Looking at one another, the twins both rushed to Nanako’s side; Souji barely had time to reach for her hand, with Yu leaning over them both, before she gave a strangled gasp, her eyes flying open - their expression blank - as the heart monitor just… stopped. 

For a second, the world froze; then Souji gave a strangled sob, spinning around to throw his arms around Yu, burying his face against his brother’s shoulder as his shoulders shook. Yu - barely able to think through the cacophony of emotions spinning through his brain - tightened his arms around his twin, his face a mask of agony and anger. 

Around him, the others sobbed, cursed, or cried; inside Yu’s heart, however, one emotion was rapidly consuming the rest. At first only a dull flame, anger quickly rose to the forefront - anger at everything; at his guilt, at his pain, at the loss of his cousin, at the situation that had Souji sobbing in his arms, even as he also felt anger at his brother, and at Yosuke. It was like a living demon, eating away at him, and it was so hot that he was almost afraid he’d burn his twin. 

The fire sought an exit, a _reason_ , and as his eyes fell on Nanako - now so cold and still - it brought one name to the forefront.

 _Taro Namatame_. 

Carefully pushing Souji back, he turned to Yosuke. “Take care of him,” he said. His voice was quiet - so quiet, _too_ quiet, and so very cold; Youske, while not hesitating to put an arm around Souji to let him cry against his shoulder, frowned at the other twin.

“Where are you going?”

Yu stared straight ahead. “To do what must be done.” 

Before Yosuke could even begin to figure out what Yu meant, the taller boy was gone. Without looking behind him, he hurried for the elevators; he wasn’t sure how he knew where to go, but he did.

* * *

When he got to the kidnapper’s room, he found the door open - unbeknownst to him, the guard had already had to deal with Dojima, which was why he wasn’t at his post - but to the silver-haired boy it seemed like a sign. Striding in, he looked around; for a second, he thought Namatame was gone.

Then he realized that the window was open, and a frail-looking man was standing at the edge, trying to climb out. Anger engulfed Yu, and in a few strides he crossed the room; grabbing Namatame’s arm, he jerked the man back into the room, slamming the window with enough force to knock the door closed, as well. 

“No the hell you _don’t_ , you fucking murderer!” He threw Namatame to the ground, where the terrified man huddled against the foot of the bed. “You! She’s dead because of _you!_ ”

He looked around; there wasn’t anything he could use as a weapon, but as his gaze fell on the TV he realized that he had something even better - _a taste of his own medicine_. He’d just grabbed Namatame’s collar, starting to drag him - struggling and yelling - towards the TV when the door burst open. 

“Yu! Stop it!” Souji was at the front of the group; the look on his face was one of panic. “Don’t do this!”

Yu stopped, his back to the group, but he still had Namatame by the collar. “Stop? Are you really telling me to stop? Nanako is _dead_ , Souji! Because of this asshole! You know as well as I do that he’s not going to get in trouble, either - they’re already talking about him as if he’s crazy!” 

“I know.” Souji’s voice was strangled, but he stepped closer. “Yu, _listen_ to me. This isn’t you, you’re not like this, don’t do this!” 

“Not like me? _Not like me?_ Ahahahahahaha!” Yu threw his head back, laughing; there was an echo to his voice that made everyone’s blood run cold. “He killed my cousin, hurt _you_ \- do you really think I can just let that go?” Dropping Namatame on the ground - Kanji immediately darted forward to pull the man away - he spun around. “Do you?”

When he turned, Souji froze; there was terror on his face, and the sight was enough cut through the fog of anger screaming in Yu’s brain, giving him the chance - and urge - to fight it. Feeling dazed, he blinked; it was the first time he noticed that the whole group was standing behind his brother.

As he looked around, he realized that everyone was pulling back, or gasping; Yosuke looked shocked, and even Naoto's expression was startled.

 _Am I- did I hurt him?_ He saw Namatame, unharmed, at Kanji’s feet; that ruled _that_ out. _What is_ -

He caught sight of himself in the mirror next to the television.

**_No. Oh, no. No, it can’t be_ -**

His eyes - once pale grey, with faint brown flecks - were completely yellow. _Gold_. 

“No… no…” He put his hands to his head; the anger was still in his head, but this time it was mocking him - _shadow! Shadow! You’re nothing but a shadow!_ \- and all he could see was Souji’s fear, the shock on everyone’s face. He’d never been so terrified before. 

_I’m nothing but a lie. Everything is a lie, my life is a lie, has always been a lie_.

Souji stepped forward; he put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, but Yu - unable to comprehend the concern on Souji’s face - shook it off. 

“Don’t!” His voice was strangled; he could still hear the echo. “Don’t touch me, I’m a monster! I’m just-” Turning his head, he saw the TV.

 _Where I really belong_.

Pulling away, he threw himself at the TV; it was a large flat-screen, and he was too close for anyone - even Souji - to stop him before the screen swallowed him, with only ripples to show where he’d been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that more people want Yu to be head-over-heels for Yosuke, and he _does_ have feelings for the brunette. They're just complicated, and right now, Souji is more important to him than Yosuke is (there's a reason for that). The more I write, the more I realize that this story is less about Souji and Yosuke (although I'm going to write it in a way where they'll have a part, too) and more about Yu, who and what he is, and his relationship with his brother, first and foremost, and what comes after they come to terms with everything.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 3 of What Came from the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm suspecting that this is going to be closer to 6 or 8 chapters, but I will probably have it finished by this weekend.

“ _Yu!_ ” Screaming his twin’s name, Souji threw himself towards the TV.

Yosuke just barely managed to catch him before he tumbled in after his brother. “Souji! Stop it! You can’t go in here, you know that!” He struggled for a moment - Chie and Kanji rushed over to help Yosuke hold the silver-haired boy back while Naoto kept an eye on Namatame - but finally, Souji slumped in the brunette's arms.

“But, _Yu!_ ” He gave a strangled sob; Yosuke, still reeling from everything that had happened - that they’d just seen - put his arms around Souji, letting him bury his face again in his shoulder as he looked around at the group.

“Did… did he just-? Is he really… _you know?_ ”

“I think so.” Rise’s voice was hushed. “He _felt_ like it… but how did we never notice before?”

“Likely because there was nothing _to_ notice. Until now, there was no real reason to think Yu-senpai was anything other than normal. In fact, one might say that this, today, was the aberration.” Naoto stepped forward, having already filed away her surprise. “It does explain why neither Souji-senpai nor Yu-senpai had a shadow, however. Right now, though, we need to-”

“You! What are you kids doing here?”

* * *

They were chased out of the room by the guard, who’d just returned from seeing Dojima back to his room; outside, they reassembled off to one side, in a small visitor’s nook. Souji - looking shellshocked - was still hanging on to Yosuke’s shoulder for support. Before they could start talking, however, a nurse rushed up.

“Excuse me! Excuse me, is Nanako Dojima’s family here?”

Souji’s head shot up as he tried to focus. “I- I am. I’m Souji, what’s-”

“Come with me, please!”

Yosuke wouldn’t let Souji's arm go, and the silver-haired boy had to admit that he appreciated the support. They hurried after the nurse, with the rest of the group following them, exchanging glances. 

When they got to the little girl’s room, they heard the unmistakeable sound of machines, and a beeping that could only be a heart monitor. Souji gripped Yosuke’s arm so hard that the brunette winced; he looked at the nurse, his eyes wide. 

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “She just suddenly… woke up. As if she’d only been asleep. It’s rare, but this sort of thing sometimes happens. She-”

Souji didn’t give her a chance to finish; he jerked open the door, rushing in. Dojima was already standing by the bed, holding his daughter’s hand as he did his best to hide his tears; Souji rushed over, and Nanako turned her head. She was still weak, but there was already better colour in her cheeks than they’d seen in weeks.

“Souji-nii!”

* * *

They were only allowed fifteen minutes or so; after that, the nurses said that she needed rest, so the group reconvened in the hall outside. Dojima had already been taken back to his room - when he asked where Yu was, Yosuke quickly spoke up, lying that he’d been too upset, and had gone home. Now, the group stood around, barely sure of what to say.

Finally, Souji looked up. “I’m… gonna go home. You guys go ahead, get dinner.”

They looked at each other; Yosuke shook his head. “I’m gonna walk you home, partner.”

“Yosuke, you don’t have to.”

“I’m gonna do it anyway.”

Souji gave him a faint smile; the rest of the group exchanged glances, then nodded. “We’ll, uh. Let’s meet tomorrow and talk?” Chie looked around the group. “Right guys?”

“I think that’s a good idea.” Naoto had been watching Souji; she turned back to nod at Chie. “There’s going to be something to discuss, even if none of us are sure what that is yet. Come on. Souji-senpai, make sure you take care of yourself, okay?”

She gave him a _look_ , and he was relatively certain she could read him pretty clearly; still, he was glad that she merely nodded to the others, leading the way towards the far exit. Souji, meanwhile, took a deep breath. _So much to say, and I can’t say any of it_ …

“Yosuke, I-”

“I know.” Yosuke put a hand on Souji’s arm; his look said everything that Souji was thinking - _we’ll have time later_. “Right now, Yu’s the most important thing. I’ve got my stuff in my backpack, we can go by your place and get your katana before we head for Junes.”

Blinking back tears of relief - it was the first time Souji had ever not had Yu beside him, to support him - the lone twin nodded. “Thank you.” There was a lump in his throat, and he could barely choke out the words, but it was enough.

“Hey, of course. That’s what partners are for, right?”

* * *

The walk to Souji’s house was quiet; when they got to the door, Yosuke made him stay outside. Souji knew that he was doing it so that he wouldn’t have to see Yu’s things scattered throughout their room; the small kindness warmed him more than he’d expected, and when the brunette returned with his bag Souji couldn’t help giving him a look of gratitude that made Yosuke flush.

When they got to Junes, Souji stopped Yosuke outside the electronics department. “I don’t know where he is. We’re not going to have a guide. I want to say I’ll be able to find him-” he couldn’t hide the ache in his voice, and Yosuke put a hand on his shoulder “-but if I can’t, then I’m going to ask you to go get Teddie.”

“Okay.” Yosuke nodded; they exchanged glances that were far weightier than a simple look, and headed in. If their hands brushed together just before they climbed into the TV, neither said anything about it; it warmed Souji’s heart, however, and gave him enough courage to step through.

As soon as they had their bearings, Souji knew that there would be no need to fetch Teddie. Turning to Yosuke, he realized that Yosuke had also felt it; _it makes sense, given that’s where we faced his shadow_.

Nodding at one another, they started to walk towards the shadowed shopping district; they’d only gotten to the outskirts, however, before Yu’s echoing voice sounded around them.

“Go _away_.”

Souji winced at the words - and tone - but it didn’t stop him from squaring his shoulders. “No. Yu, come out.”

“I’m not Yu. _Go away!_ ”

They were still walking; Souji just shook his head. “You _are_ Yu, you’re my brother.” 

“ _Shut up!_ ” They’d just stepped around the corner, with the liquor store in front of them; there was a flash off to one side and Yosuke barely had time to yell Souji’s name before Yu was on them, sword out, leaping at his brother.

Souji might not have been as good with words as his twin, but he was still a leader; before Yu reached him he had his katana out, and the two swords clashed loudly enough to make Yosuke wince, even as he grabbed for his kunai. 

It turned out that there was no need for more weapons, however. The twins stood for a moment, as if testing their wills against each other; finally, with a choked “ _ngh!_ ” Yu dropped his weapon, pulling away. 

“Just _go away_. Why are you here? Why won’t you leave me alone? I’m _not_ Yu, I’m nothing but a shadow, I belong here now. Just let me go!” The shadow’s voice was full of anguish, and Souji - breathing a little harder after their show of swordplay - put his katana away. _I have to make him see!_

“ _No_. I don’t believe you for a moment when you tell me you’re not Yu. Listen to me! The colour of your eyes doesn’t change the last sixteen years we spent together! You could be green and from Mars and I wouldn’t care. _You’re my brother_.” He stepped forward; Yu turned, as if to run away, but Souji grabbed his arm, taking a deep breath.

“ _Please, Yu_.”

* * *

Yu had never been able to withstand his brother’s pleading, and despite the ache in his soul, the same held true now. It didn’t mean he was going to turn around, however, or give in; he still couldn’t even look Souji in the eyes. Standing with his back to his twin - _do I even have the right to call him that any more?_ \- he dropped his head; for a moment, there was silence between them.

Finally, Souji spoke. “Yu… look. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but if there is anything I _am_ sure about - have never been more sure about - it’s that _you’re my brother_. I don’t even care if you’re… a shadow, or part shadow, or _what_.”

“Bullshit. I’m just a _copy_.” Yu started to say more, but his brother’s sharp retort stopped him.

“Are you stupid?” With surprising forcefulness, Souji pulled on Yu’s arm, forcing him to turn around, although the shadow kept his eyes on the ground. “Since when have you _ever_ been a copy of me? We’ve never, _ever_ had the same interests! Sure, we both like the same music, and cats, and some of the same movies, but seriously, Yu? Soccer, drama, martial arts movies, strawberry ice, giant robots? That’s _all_ you. Not to mention the fact that you ruin your food with hot sauce, I mean, how can you even eat that stuff?”

“Hey! I like spicy food-” For just a second, Yu forgot where they were - _what he was_ \- in their usual banter; when he caught his brother’s eyes, he saw the sorrow, the _relief_ , and it was almost enough to bowl him over. As he stood there - blinking, unsure - Souji stepped closer. 

“You’re my brother, Yu.” Carefully, he hugged his twin; the shadow twitched, as if debating pulling away, but slowly, he put his arms up, returning the embrace. “What you said earlier… yes, I love Yosuke, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you!” His voice was choked, and Yu could feel tears on his neck. “Just because Yosuke fits a piece of my heart doesn’t mean that he’s going to fill the empty hole if you leave - I’ll _always_ need you. Stupid! No one could ever take your place. Not even Yosuke!” 

His twin's words were finally enough to break through the walls Yu had tried to throw between them; burying his face in Souji’s shoulder, he started to sob, and his brother just tightened his arms. “Yu. I don’t ever want to lose you; you’re my other half. Do you know how lost I would be without you? I’m just so, so sorry I never realized that you were scared and hurting, too; that’s my fault.”

Yosuke, who'd been standing to the side, waiting, spoke up. “Souji’s right, you know. You’re a totally different person; nobody who knows you two would ever think you were copies of each other.” When he realized that Yu wasn’t going to turn and yell at him, the brunette bit his lip, stepping closer. “And I owe you an apology, too. Yu… _bro_ … you always seemed so on top of everything, and I never ever thought that you actually needed me, or _anybody_ , really, that wasn't Souji, but especially somebody like me. You’re my best bud aside from partner here, but I didn’t realize that you needed a friend as much as Souji did, and that was shitty of me. I’m sorry.”

Yu slowly turned his head to look at Yosuke; the look on the brunette’s face was almost enough to make him cry again, but he just shook his head. 

“No, Yosuke, I- I’m sorry. You’re my best friend, apart from Souji. I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you, especially when I really am grateful that you’ve been there to support him even when I couldn’t. I... ” _I wish I could have loved you better_. He couldn’t say that, though, so he just closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tears.

“You’re coming back with us.” Souji’s words were a statement, not a question; Yu, however balked at this, trying to pull away. “I can’t, I-”

Yosuke rolled his eyes. “Oh god, bro, _don’t start_ that ‘I gotta live here because I used to be a shadow or whatever’ crap, okay? Not when I have to put up with Teddie _every. single. day_.”

Yu couldn’t help smiling, albeit faintly, at this; Souji - who hadn’t let go of his twin - poked his forehead. “How much do you think the group would miss you? I’d have to come live here with you.”

Yu paled at this, as Yosuke nodded. “I’d miss you, dude. No doubts. Besides, I’m not stupid enough to want to take your place; you and Souji have a bond that I’ll never have, because what he and I have-” he shot a quick look at Souji, who was ever-so-slightly pink “-is different, and that’s a good thing.” 

Souji cleared his throat. “Think about uncle, and Nanako, they’d miss-” He stopped abruptly as Yu’s face fell as he struggled to pull away again.

“ _Nanako_.” He was crying again. “She’s dead, and it’s all my fault, if I-”

“Yu, she’s-”

“-if I hadn’t lost it, if I hadn’t yelled at uncle, she never-”

“ _Yu!_ ” Souji grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. “Nanako’s alive! She’s okay!” 

The look of _disbelief_ was so strong that Souji had to grab his twin’s shoulders to keep him from from falling down as his knees buckled. “What? But- but we saw- but _how?_ ”

Yosuke smiled. “We don’t know, but she’s fine. She even asked if you were gonna come see her tomorrow. You can’t let that down, can you?”

“I-” Yu looked dazed, and Souji took the opportunity to start walking back towards the entrance, his arms still around his brother.

“Come on, Yu. We need to go home, we all need to eat, and we can talk. But you’re coming home with me. I won’t let you stay here. And tomorrow, you’re going to go with me to see Nanako.”

“But what if I hurt her? What if I’m the reason she’s sick?” The worry on his face was palpable, and Souji shook his head.

“You’ve been by her side the whole time, dumbass. If you had _anything_ to do with it - and I don’t think you did - it was the anger; that just means that we’ll help you keep it under control while we figure out how to handle this fog, right? I’ll be there with you the whole time, and I won’t let anything happen. I promise.” Souji squeezed Yu’s shoulder; his brother looked at him gratefully as Yosuke came up beside them, carefully leaving Yu between himself and Souji.

“Yeah, dude! Naoto already thinks there’s something going on other than the crap with Namatame. She doesn’t think he’s the main culprit; I don’t really get why, but we can talk about it tomorrow with the group.”

“The group…” Yu frowned, looking down at his feet. “I scared everybody. They’re not going to want to be around me any more.”

Souji, who’d been watching their path, squinted as they approached the entrance. “Oh, I wouldn’t be so certain about that.” 

Yu raised his head when Souji said this; the first thing he saw was Rise, who launched herself at the trio when they walked up to the main platform. 

“Yu-senpai! You scared us so much, how many times did I tell you? You shouldn’t ever go into the TV anywhere but at Junes!” She hugged him, then turned and poked Souji. “And Souji-senpai! How could you come here without us?”

“Rise-chan, we talked about this…” Naoto’s words were quiet, and the redhead sighed even as Yu just blinked; the entire group was standing there, and they were all smiling at him. 

“What- why are you all here?” _I thought they would hate me!_

“Because we were worried, dummy!” Chie frowned for a moment, but then smiled at him. “Besides, I feel bad, I reacted without thinking, and-”

“We all feel bad, senpai.” Kanji nodded. “Heck, we’ve all got shit we had to work through, right? This ain’t nothin’ different, it just took longer to get to. Next time you’re feelin’ bad, just talk to us, ok? Or at least talk to Souji-senpai.”

“I- guys, I don’t know what to say-” He looked at Souji, who just smiled at him. 

“Then stop talking, you’ve been doing too much of that lately. Let’s just go home and have dinner, okay?”

“Okay.” Yu put his hands up to his face for a moment, and the group took this chance to pile onto him, one big group hug - including Souji and Yosuke. 

“Souji-senpai is right.” If Naoto’s eyes were a little misty, she hid it well. “Let’s all head home. Tomorrow we can meet at the food court, start working on figuring out who’s _really_ behind everything. We’ll need our leaders for that, of course.”

Yu laughed - it was a small sound, but it made him feel so much lighter - and put his arm over Souji’s shoulder. “All right, then. Let’s head back.”

* * *

Once they were back inside the store, everyone went their separate ways home; eventually it was just Yu, Souji, and Yosuke. 

“Guys, I’m starving and exhausted. I’m gonna go home, okay? You two need to go home and talk.” Yosuke - hands in his pockets - smiled at the twins.

Yu started to protest, but Souji just put an arm around his shoulders, nodding to the brunette with a grateful smile. “Yeah. We’ll, uh-” he shot a glance at Yu, before looking back to Yosuke “-maybe we can meet tomorrow, I don’t know. After we see Nanako?”

“Let me know.” Yosuke smiled, but then turned to Yu. “Bro. Text me, okay? Or something. Just… you don’t have to keep everything in. I’m an idiot, but I can at least listen.”

With a small smile, Yu leaned over and hugged Yosuke; Souji joined in, and the three of them held tight for a moment before Yosuke pulled back. “Okay, guys, for real this time. Have a good night!” The twins watched him walk away before turning to each other; Souji kept an arm around Yu’s shoulders as they headed home.

No one saw the pair of golden eyes flashing across the TV screen, watching the twins leave.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 4 of What Came from the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. Wall of story ahead. It's super, _super_ long, but that's because it's a lot of exposition, and I didn't want to force it into too many chapters. See the end notes for all of my rambling about why I added what I did to this chapter.
> 
>  **OF NOTE:** This story assumes that Teddie either never really was an issue - either he figured things out without a crisis of conscience, or if he had one, it happened earlier. That's not to discount his background or role, but it made this story easier if they already knew what they find out, in the game, later. Also, it just made things confusing to deal with Teddie disappearing and Yu finding out he’s a shadow at the same time.

The walk home was easier than Yu expected. The fog was still there, still boring into his brain, but Souji - the quiet twin who rarely talked and mostly listened - kept up a steady dialogue. It was innocuous; Naoto’s conjectures concerning the murders, the conversation he’d had with Nanako when she woke up, stories from band and basketball from the last few weeks. None of it was the kind of thing Souji usually talked about - usually Yu was the talker, and Souji would listen - but his voice gave Yu an anchor, something to hold onto, and he found it easier to ignore the fog that way. 

He started feeling overwhelmed, once; it was only a tightness in his throat, a pinch behind his eyes, but somehow - somehow his brother noticed, and put an arm around his shoulders, hugging him close, and it was enough. He gave his twin a small smile; Souji just responded with a smile of his own, and started in on another story. It was enough.

When they got to the house, Souji unlocked the door; as Yu was hanging up his jacket, his brother went into the kitchen. 

“What do you want for dinner? I’ll cook anything.”

“Nah, Souj, don’t worry-”

“ _Come on_ , Yu. I’m hungry, you’re hungry. What do you want?”

After thinking for a moment, Yu brightened. “Napolitan?”

Souji pulled a face. “Ew, no. You always sneak too much pepper into it! How am I supposed to eat when dinner burns off half my tongue?”

“Hey!” Yu’s expression turned sulky. “You said I could have anything!”

“Yeah, but I meant _real_ food.” 

“No faaaaaair~” Yu grabbed at Souji; they tussled, laughingly, for a moment, and Souji ended up in a headlock as Yu messed up his hair. “You said _anything_ , don’t be stingy!” 

“Welllllll…” Souji sounded as if he was thinking it over, but when Yu - smirking in triumph - looked down, he saw a gentle smile on his brother’s face, and he realized, with a start, just how much more relaxed he felt now. Before he could respond, however, Souji straightened up, running his fingers through his hair to fix it. “Yeah, of course I will. Just… save the _spice_ for your own plate?”

 _Sometimes I forget just how perceptive Souj really is_. “I’ll think about it.” Hiding a lump in his throat, Yu turned towards the stairs. “I’m gonna go change-”

“Get a bath.” Souji nodded at him. “It’ll probably help.”

“Yeah. Come get me if I’m not done by the time dinner is ready?” 

“‘Course.”

* * *

Dinner passed with no mention of what had happened with Namatame, or the TV world; Yu couldn’t just let it sit, however, and as they stood side-by-side, washing dishes, he gave a sigh. 

“About… being a shadow…”

His voice was hesitant, and beside him, Souji looked over. 

“You don’t have to talk about it, Yu. Like I said earlier - you’re not a shadow. You’re my brother.”

“I _know_.” Yu sighed again, rubbing his face with the back of his hand to avoid getting soap in his eyes. “I know, and I appreciate it… but I _want_ to know what’s going on. I just have no clue. I mean, it explains some things pretty well - why neither of us ever had a shadow, why I never had a persona.”

“Yeah, well, it seemed normal at the time? You and I were the first of the group to show any powers; sure, Yosuke ended up with a persona, too, but there were so few of us. Who was to say that having abilities instead of summoning a persona was weird? And once everybody else came along, we’d all already gotten used to it. I mean, really. Naoto never suspected. That says something.”

Yu looked at his hands. “Yeah. I guess. I just wish that this didn’t raise more questions than it solved.”

“Eh. We’ll talk about it tomorrow, yeah? Teddie might be able to help, and I’m sure Naoto will be able to point out fifteen things we’ve both missed.” Souji smiled, bumping shoulders with his twin; Yu smirked.

“Fifteen? I’ll tell Naoto you’re underestimating her again.” 

They both laughed, and Souji turned off the water. “Anyway, right now I think we both just need to rest.” With the last dish in the drainer, he hung up the washcloth he was holding. “Want some tea?”

“Yeah, sure.” Drying his hands off, Yu took a seat at the kitchen table. As he watched Souji set the kettle to heat, he rubbed his forehead.

_Now or never._

“So. Uh. Yosuke…?”

Tea tin in one hand, scoop in the other, Souji stopped in the middle of filling the teapot. “Yeah?” He sounded hesitant, and Yu didn’t blame him - _but I don’t want this to be a confrontation. I just want to talk about it._

“Well, I mean… did you guys talk?”

Shaking his head, Souji finished measuring out the tea. “We both felt that finding you was more important.” When he capped the tin and reached up to put it back on the shelf, Yu frowned.

“I didn’t mean to- no, okay.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to feel like we have to beat around the bush, I don’t want _you_ to think you have to be careful with me or anything. Can we just talk about it?”

There were a few minutes’ silence as Souji finished making the tea; he carried two mugs over, handing one to Yu, and sat down across the table. “Okay. Yeah. Because… Yu, I don’t _want_ this between us.”

“Yeah, I don’t, either. And I don’t mean for it to be.” He looked down at his tea, and heaved a sigh. “So, talk to me. I don’t- I still don’t _get_ it, you know? I look at Yosuke, and he makes me feel warm and a little lonely, but I don’t- you clearly feel something different than I do, and I don’t _get_ it, but I want to.” He met his twin’s eyes. “So, tell me how you feel.”

Biting his lip, Souji studied his brother. “Yu, are you sure? I don’t want-”

“I’m _sure_. Honestly, I don’t know if I’m in love with him or not, and you seem so _certain_ , so… I just want to know what it is.”

“Okay.” Souji took a deep breath. “And remember, you’re the one that’s good with words, so if I sound stupid, just-” He shook his head, looking at his hands, wrapped around his mug. “Ugh, this is really hard. I just… okay, so. He’s cute, like, _really_ cute, maybe more than cute. But that’s not _all_ … he’s cute, but it’s his attitude. When I’m with him, I just… feel happy. Everything’s fun and exciting when he’s around, and I never feel like he’s out of reach, he’s just always… _there_. He’s so bright and eager and he’s so good at talking to people and making jokes, but I don’t feel like- it’s like I can do it, too, like he’s showing me _how_. But there are still things he needs me for; I can help him, and when I do and he looks at me with admiration, I feel like I can do anything.” Souji looked up, cheeks pink. “You always protected me, and I know you always will. Having Yosuke doesn’t mean I don’t need you, too. But Yosuke’s the first person who’s ever made me feel like I wanted to try to be _better_ , be stronger. He makes me feel like _I_ can protect _him_.” A pause. “Does that… does it make sense?”

Yu was quiet for a long time, staring at his tea; when he looked up, he found Souji watching him, anxiously. Shaking his head, he rolled his shoulders, trying to ease some of the tension. “Yeah, it does make sense. And I don’t- I don’t feel anything like that.”

“Not everybody loves in the same way, you know.” 

“No, but I mean… it’s not that what I feel is _different_ so much that it’s just… _not there_. You know, I’ve never once thought about what it would be like if Yosuke liked me, too? When I look at him, I just think about how I want to go back to you, me, and him hanging out together. He’s cute, yeah, really cute - I mean, those red pants-”

Souji flushed. “Uh, _yeah_.”

His brother chuckled, faintly. “Well, he’s cute, but I’d rather all three of us be friends than just him and I be together, alone. Maybe it’s because I’ve never felt like he needed me, I don’t know.” A shrug. “Thanks, though. It doesn’t really make it all better, but it does make it easier.”

“Yu…” Souji frowned. “If… if this is going to hurt you…”

“ _Don’t_.” Reaching over, Yu put a hand on his brother’s wrist. “Souj, I love you, and I want to see you happy. You’ve told me a thousand times that you’re not going to just leave me alone; now it’s just time for me to trust you.” He gave a small smile; it was sad, but still gentle. “You and he should talk.”

Souji looked down at his hands, his face red. “I… yeah. But you know, it’s kind of a nerve-wracking thought.”

Yu laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure it is. But somehow, I think it’ll be okay.” He finished his tea. “Come on. Let’s get some sleep.”

“Yeah.” Standing, Souji took their mugs to rinse them; Yu headed upstairs. While Souji took a shower, he got ready for bed; he’d just laid down when his brother came in, drying his hair. After a few moments, he felt his bed shift as Souji sat down on the side before leaning over to give his twin a hug. 

They stayed like that for some time; when Yu finally sighed, pulling back, Souji nodded. 

“I’m uh. I’m gonna text Yosuke.”

Yu raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have to ask my permission, Souj.”

“I _know_.” His brother huffed at him. “I just thought, you know… you should, too. I think he’d like to hear from both of us. He was almost as worried as I was, you know, when you jumped into the TV.”

Yu blinked at this. “Oh.” He gave a small smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I will. Okay, Souj. Get some sleep.”

“You, too. Night, Yu.”

“Night, Souj.”

* * *

_Fog. So much fog, everywhere; but that was normal. For as long as he’d known anything, all he’d known was fog. Had it been years? Days? Months? He had no concept of time, no concept of anything other than the fog._

_Drifting, always drifting; slowly, he became aware of a sound. It was loud, and annoying, but also sad; he had no more concept of emotion than he had of time, but he couldn’t stop himself from following the sound - it was the only thing that was different, a lifeline in the fog._

_Slowly, the world lightened around him; there were things, not just fog, but that wasn’t what drew his attention. What drew his attention was the origin of the sound - a small, shriveled thing that made more noise than something of its size should. He felt irrationally angry, as if each sob was being torn out of_ him.

 _He just wanted it to stop. Wanted to go back to the drifting fog, to the quiet, to the not knowing. But something - something was holding him there; with a shock, he realized_ … 

It’s me. Somehow I’m part of that pathetic, crying _thing_. 

No. No, no, no. _The anger grew. It would be so easy to reach out, wrap tendrils around it… just a few seconds, and the noise would stop; he’d either be able to go back to the fog, or he’d disappear, but either way… it would be over, and he wouldn’t have to worry about it any more_. 

_Creeping closer, his shadow_ \- do shadows _have_ shadows? - _fell across the thing; suddenly, it stopped crying. Its eyes flew open, and for a moment, it looked at him. Pale grey stared into malevolent yellow… and then it smiled_.

 _The smile was enough to stop him; confused, he drew back. When he did, the thing’s expression changed; it tilted its head and held out its hands, as if reaching for him; there was a stricken look on its face, terror at being left alone, he could tell that it was lonely, so lonely, and the loneliness filled him until he realized that it was all he’d ever known, and suddenly he wasn’t angry any more. He was lonely, and he wanted to see that smile again_.

_Reaching out again, he realized that he had hands, now; he’d never had a form before, but this was okay, because hands were easier, and when he reached for the thing again, he was gratified to see the smile return._

_From there, he wasn’t really sure what to do. Hesitantly, he touched it; when he did, its face brightened - as if it had been waiting for that very action - and even as the expression filled him with numb, unused feelings, the thing wiggled…_

... _and_ laughed.

 _He couldn’t have explained what happened after that. One minute, he was drowning in feelings, emotions, sensations for which he had no name and no concept; the next, his perception had shrunk, and suddenly everything was too bright, too loud, too confusing, and he felt trapped, confined to some sort of form, but the thing was still there, and it was still laughing, and it seemed… happy? The loneliness wasn’t there any more - or at least, it wasn’t so strong - and that was okay. That was_ good.

 _He could handle this confusion just as long as it continued to smile_.

* * *

Yu and Souji were the first two at the food court the next morning. Chie was the next to arrive; she plopped down across from Yu, leaning forward.

“Heyy! Your eyes are normal again!”

“ _Chie!_ ” Yukiko had just walked up; she gave her friend a look that said _that’s rude_ , and Chie flushed.

“Sorry, I just-”

“It’s okay.” Yu smiled faintly. “I was actually digging for the contacts I’d used in our last play when Souji told me that I didn’t need to worry about it.” He shrugged. “I’m not gonna complain.”

Before they could say anything else, Kanji and Naoto arrived, followed by Rise; Yosuke and Teddie were the last. The brunette was out of breath when he got to the table; he gave Souji a brief, shy glance before dropping into the seat across from him, as Rise had already parked herself between the twins, as she was wont to do.

“Sorry, guys. It took me an hour to find my toothpaste because Ted thought it’d be cool to see what happened when you put it in the freezer.”

Everybody snickered; once they’d finished laughing, however, Naoto leaned forward. “Yu-senpai. I don’t want to bring up bad memories, but-”

“But we don’t know what’s going on with the fog, and I’m probably the best clue, aside from Teddie.” He nodded. “It’s okay, Naoto.” He looked around the table with a wry smile. 

“First, I’m sorry, and thank you.” Everybody shook their heads, and he gave a brief nod before continuing. “Secondly, I don’t really know much more than you all, but I had… a dream last night.”

* * *

“I see.” When Yu finished speaking, Naoto sat back; she pulled her hat off for a second, scratching her head before putting it back on. “If, as I surmise, that was a memory of the first time you and Souji-senpai met, then it seems to me that the interaction counted as his accepting you. Which would explain why he was already able to summon a persona when you faced Yosuke-senpai’s shadow.”

“But how can shadows interact with people?” Rise shook her head. “The only reason things were weird yesterday was because of the fog!”

Souji cleared his throat. “Yu and I don’t talk much about our parents, but we lost our father when we were only a few months old. Obviously I have no memories of the time, but Grandmother told us about it; it was apparently a very bad winter, with fog and storms nearly every day. Our parents were returning from a trip; the fog was so bad that they missed a warning sign and ended up in oncoming traffic. Father was killed instantly; mother was hurt, so badly that she was in the hospital for months. She never really got much better, you know, which is why we’re here with uncle.”

Naoto nodded. “Nothing says this is the first time this has ever happened. You’ve seen how huge the TV world is; I can’t imagine that Inaba is the _only_ place it touches.”

“Besides.” Yu looked at Souji. “We didn’t live that far away, you know. It wasn’t Inaba, but it’s probably… I don’t know, thirty miles away? In the opposite direction from Okina, though, and the beach, so we’ve never been out that way. We don’t have family there anymore, anyway; uncle moved here to be a detective, and we moved to the city because Mother could get better treatments there, and Grandmother came with us.”

“But wait. Wouldn’t people have _known_ that there was only one baby?” Chie looked confused. “I mean, how do you come up with unexpected twins and _not_ think it’s weird?”

“Well, I mean. You guys all know that Mom and Dad accepted Ted, like immediately, right?” Yosuke leaned forward. “I always wondered how that was, but I wasn’t gonna question it, you know? If your mom was sick and everybody was busy dealing with the wreck, then maybe it’s not such a stretch, especially if there’s weird shadow-stuff going on. I mean, it sounds to me like Souji was pretty lonely in that dream Yu had.” He shot Souji another look, and Yu had to smile a very little at the concern on the brunette’s face. “Sounds to me that nobody was paying much attention to him anyway. If you’ve got paid nurses coming around, they probably just figured that somebody made a mistake on the paperwork.” He shrugged.

“I think Yosuke-senpai has it.” Naoto nodded. “Obviously we’ll never _quite_ know, but it makes the most sense to me. And Teddie is proof that shadows can grow bodies if they want to, badly enough; Yu-senpai just shows us that they can become human.”

“But Ted had a shadow, an’ he’s got a persona now.” Kanji scratched his head. “And he’s never had no problems with the fog, right?”

“I think, if anything, that’s because Teddie wasn’t _someone’s_ shadow. We don’t really know how that world works, but think about the shadows we fight. They’re different from _our_ shadows, right? I conjecture that Teddie was originally one of those basic shadows-"

“Basic? How rude!" Before Teddie could complain any further, however, Yosuke clamped a hand over his mouth, and Naoto just _looked_ at the small boy, before continuing.

"-a _basic_ shadow who developed his own personality and ego. Yu-senpai, however, was born _from_ Souji-senpai - and our shadows _are_ our egos, in the psychological sense. Therefore, he’s more like a persona-turned-human, rather than a shadow-turned-human.”

“Ugh, Naoto-kun. That’s so complicated!” Rise stretched across the table. “I don’t think it makes any difference, anyway. I get that you wanna know about yourself, Yu-senpai, but eventually doesn’t it still come down to the fact that no matter what, you’re here, and we’re all friends?”

“I agree.” Souji caught his brother’s eye, and Yu, who’d been listening to everything with a very strange feeling - _it’s like I’m being dissected_ \- gave him a faint smile.

“Thanks, Rise. Souj. But that still puts us back at square one, with no more idea about who was behind Namatame than we had.”

“Then we stop looking at it from the TV world angle and start looking at the facts.” Naoto smiled at him. “It’s nothing we haven’t already done before.”

* * *

Hours later, they were a little closer, but even Naoto had to admit that she’d hit a dead end. “There’s got to be something we’re missing!”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we all slept on it? Or let it sit for a bit? I know we need to deal with the fog as soon as we can - for Nanako-chan’s sake, as well as for Yu-senpai’s - but beating our heads on this thing isn’t gonna help, and it’s just gonna make us mad.” Rise looked frustrated, and the others weren’t far behind.

“Rise-chan’s right. And unfortunately, I need to go help at the inn.” Yukiko stood up, gathering her trash from lunch. “We’ve got a large party coming in tonight.”

The group made plans to meet again the next day before splitting up; as usual, only the twins and Yosuke were left. This time, however, Yu gave the others a small smile. 

“I’m gonna head home. We’ve got a drama production coming up and Yumi’s going to have my hide if I don’t learn my part.” 

Souji gave him a worried glance; before he could speak, however, Yu - with that same small smile - pushed his shoulder. “Go on. I know you two have a lot to talk about. I’m just going home, I’ll be fine.”

“Well-” Yosuke cleared his throat. “We’re just gonna go to the river. How about we all walk that direction? Your house is on the way, so…”

Yu knew _why_ Yosuke was saying it, and he wanted to reject it. _They don’t need to go out of their way for me_. There was a look of relief on Souji’s face, though, and even as Yu felt guilty, he felt _warm_ , and he realized that he hadn’t actually said anything, and now it would look bad if he refused, so he just shoved his hands into his pockets. 

_Maybe it’s okay to let them go out of their way._

The walk home was a little awkward, but really, not anywhere near as bad as he’d expected. Yosuke spent most of the time talking - as was usual - and by the time they’d reached the Dojimas’, he and Yu were joking about something Daisuke had said about Kou the other day, and maybe… _maybe everything isn’t going to disappear_. 

He couldn’t _believe_ it, but now… maybe he trusted it a bit more. 

Putting his hand on the doorknob, Yu turned. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Yosuke-”

“Actually.” Souji looked down, then at Yu. “How about we all get dinner later?”

“-dinner?” Yu found himself frowning. “No, you guys need to-”

“Nah, he’s right, bro.” Yosuke looked between the brothers. “We didn’t get Aiya’s yesterday. We should do that.”

“No, no, you guys need to talk.” Yu set his jaw. _If they keep doing this, I’m just going to get spoiled_.

“And we’re gonna.” Souji poked his elbow - _right_ in the scar he had from a fight in third grade - and Yu yelped, giving his brother an indignant look as he rubbed the spot. “I know what you’re doing, and you said you were gonna trust us, right? I _want_ to have dinner with you and Yosuke. Okay?”

Yosuke - who’d been doing his best not to laugh - nodded. “It’s true, bro.”

“All right.” Yu huffed a sigh. “All right, just text me and I’ll meet you guys.”

“Just don’t fall asleep at the kotatsu.”

In lieu of an answer - since it really _was_ one of his bad habits - Yu stuck his tongue out at Souji and went inside, feeling a little better.

* * *

When the door closed behind Yu, Souji looked at Yosuke; somehow the atmosphere had completely changed, now that it was just the two of them, and he found himself turning pink. 

_Oh, great. We’re just standing here and I’m already blushing. This is going to be a disaster_.

Yosuke, however, just smiled at him - his own cheeks were a bit pink, a fact that made Souji feel a little better - and jerked his head down the road. “Let’s head to the riverbank?”

“Yeah. Yeah, let’s.” Glad that he could at least _speak_ , Souji nodded, and he shoved his hands into his pockets as he followed the brunette. 

They were silent for a few minutes; finally, Yosuke spoke up. “So, uh. Yu texted me last night. Around the same time you did, actually.”

“Oh?” Souji looked up. He was torn between feeling glad and worried. _I mean I_ know _that nothing happened between Yu and Yosuke, but_ …

“Yeah.” Yosuke gave Souji a little smile, looking up at him from the side in a gesture that made Souji flush even harder. “He, uh. Well, we talked about maybe all three of us going to karaoke when we got this fog crap sorted out. Whaddya think?”

 _He, uh_ , what _?_ Souji shook his head, trying not to get distracted. “Oh, that sounds good, but can we leave Teddie behind? Between him and Rise, nobody else ever gets a chance.”

Yosuke laughed. “Of course, that’s why it’d be the _three_ of us.”

“That doesn’t always stop him.”

Grimacing, the brunette rubbed his face. “Ugh. Yeah, you’re right. I’ll make Kanji take him that day or something.”

They’d reached the riverbank by this point; Souji took a seat on the steps, looking out at the water, and Yosuke followed. For a while, neither of them said anything.

_I think I’m going to die if this continues. Think, Souji! You’ve got to say something!_

“So, uh-”

“Hey, partner-”

Stopping, they both looked at each other, and then started to laugh; Souji knew they were laughing harder than the situation actually warranted, but the absurdity had somehow cleared the air… and it was _nice_ to laugh together. While he was wiping his eyes, Yosuke’s laughter died away; he balled his hands lightly on his legs as he looked over at Souji.

“I really like you, Souji.”

Souji’s felt his breath catch in his throat. He _knew_ , kind-of-sort-of, but _hearing_ it made all the difference, and he found himself turning red.

“Me, too.” _Oh my god Souji can you not_. “Uh, I mean, I like you, too, Yosuke.” 

Yosuke laughed, but his face was red, too, and it made Souji feel a little better. Hesitantly, the silver-haired boy moved a little closer; Yosuke looked over at him, and then, ever-so-slowly, put his hand over Souji’s as it rested on the step between them.

“So, uh.” Souji looked up at Yosuke, trying to mimic the sideways glance the brunette had given him earlier; Yosuke turned red, and Souji found himself feeling pleased at the reaction, and it gave him courage. “Will you go out with me?”

A sunny smile broke out across Yosuke’s face, along with a look of relief - _wait_ , he _was worried, too?_ \- and he squeezed Souji’s hand. “I thought you’d never ask. Of course I will.”

Hearing how shaky the brunette’s voice was finally made Souji realize just how hilarious the whole situation was; they’d been friends for months, and had _never_ had this kind of trouble talking before. Taking a deep breath, he let it out in a long, heavy sigh. “What are we doing?” 

Yosuke looked sharply at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we’re acting like we’ve never talked before.” He shot Yosuke a small smile before shifting his hand to squeeze his friend’s ( _boyfriend’s? Boyfriend’s!_ ) hand. “One of the things I like so much about you is that I feel comfortable with you, you know?”

Yosuke looked at their hands, a pleased expression on his face, before taking a deep breath and smiling. “Yeah. Yeah, there’s no reason to be nervous, is there? Okay.” He bit his lip. “Then, can I… uh... kiss you?”

 _!!!_ This was not what Souji had expected, and he blushed again; Yosuke turned red, too, and scratched his neck - although he hadn’t let go of the silver-haired boy’s hand.

“I guess maybe there _are_ still some things to be nervous about. Sorry, we don’t-”

“No!” It came out a lot louder than he’d intended, and Souji turned even redder, if such a thing was possible. “Er, no, I- yeah. I want to.”

“Okay.” Yosuke’s smile curved into a goofy grin, and the sight made Souji’s heart flip; the brunette leaned forward, and Souji - his heart in his throat - did the same. 

It was as awkward as he expected a first kiss to be; neither of them knew which way to move their heads, and Souji was relatively certain that Yosuke could _hear_ how loud his heart was hammering. Then, when they finally got their mouths lined up just right and he leaned in, Yosuke’s headphones pinched Souji’s neck and threatened to smack the brunette in the ear - Yosuke quickly jerked them off and put them to the side - but all in all it felt _really_ good, and after a moment, Souji put a hand up to rest on Yosuke’s shoulder, and Yosuke responded with a hand on Souji’s waist. 

After a while, across the river, someone called for their dog; the sound startled them, and they pulled apart - but they didn’t go far, and Yosuke grabbed Souji’s hand again, and squeezed it. Souji scooted closer, putting his head on the brunette’s shoulder; his boyfriend smiled, and leaned in, and they sat that way for a while. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest idea to sit so long in the fog, but right now - right now, neither of them cared. Yosuke wrapped an arm around Souji’s waist.

“I _really_ like you,” he whispered.

This made Souji’s heart clench - in a good way - and he half-hid his face against his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Good, ‘cause I really like you, too.” 

They probably could have sat that way for hours, but just as Yosuke was leaning in to kiss Souji again, the silver-haired boy’s stomach growled. There was a moment’s surprise, then Souji turned bright red, and Yosuke just started to laugh, finally dropping his forehead onto Souji’s shoulder. 

“Ugh, okay, I’m done, just kill me now.” Souji tried to stand up, but Yosuke grabbed him, putting his arms around his boyfriend’s waist.

“Noooooo, it was cute. Don’t be embarrassed!” They struggled for a moment, and Souji finally plopped back down with a sigh. When he did, Yosuke gave him a quick squeeze - and a kiss on the cheek - before standing up. “Come on.” He offered Souji his hand, and Souji - still looking sulky - took it. “We’re gonna get dinner, right? I’ll text Yu.”

“Okay.” They walked side-by-side, although Yosuke had to drop Souji’s hand so that he could text the other twin. While he did, Souji put his hands in his pockets, thinking about his brother.

Finally slipping his phone back into his pocket, Yosuke looked over at Souji. “Yu’s gonna meet us there. I told him he wasn’t allowed to not come.”

Nodding, Souji hesitantly reached out to take his boyfriend’s hand again. “I… about Yu. I know he’s… better about us, but I really don’t want to hurt him any more than I have to, and-”

“Nah, partner, I get you.” Yosuke squeezed his hand. “We can take it slow, and I won’t be offended if we’re… careful around him. He told me last night that he wanted us to be happy, not to worry about him, but he’s my bro, too, you know? I mean, I hope some day he’ll be okay with everything, but until then, well, yeah.”

“Until then, yeah.” A small smile. “Besides, if we get too goofy, the rest of the team will give us hell, anyway.”

“Ugh.” Yosuke grimaced. “I don’t even want to think about Chie’s reaction.”

“Chie? Imagine _Teddie_.” Both boys shuddered, and then laughed; they held hands until they got to the shopping street, and when they saw Yu’s silhouette waiting for them at the Chinese restaurant, Souji gave Yosuke a soft, gentle look, then dropped his hand and ran ahead to greet his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **napolitan** \- a spaghetti dish consisting of spaghetti, tomato ketchup or a tomato-based sauce, onion, button mushrooms, green peppers, sausage, bacon and Tabasco sauce
> 
> Maybe I didn't need this chapter - I know a lot of people just prefer to roll with it - but I personally need details, so I tried to work out just what was going on with Yu and explain it here (I hope it makes some kind of sense!) I was tempted to have Igor show up and just explain everything, but that felt too convenient, and it's a plot device I don't want to overuse, so... here ya go, stupid as it may be. Not like Naoto isn't brilliant, anyway. 
> 
> I rolled the Souji/Yosuke talk into this chapter, too, because it's important to me that they get some screen time, and I wanted a little bit of fluff. I just hope I didn't write too much needless dialogue or discussion. Maybe Yu and Souji don't need so much 'coming to terms' time, IDK; I wrote a lot more than I actually had here, but I didn't want to cut what's in this chapter. I also really wanted to downplay the idea that Yu was in love with _Yosuke_ because I want what's coming later to be important and meaningful without seeming like he's just on a rebound and looking for someone to replace Yosuke.
> 
> I also know that I'm explaining a lot of stuff I _could_ be showing - but at the risk of writing a "bad" story, trying to show all of it (like Yu struggling with wanting his brother and Yosuke to go out of their way for him vs the guilt he feels about letting them) would make this story at least twice as long. Hence more exposition.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 5 of What Came from the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that from here on out the plot may be recognizable but this is an AU, so the same reasons, premises, and explanations from P4/P4G do not apply. This also applies to shadows, and the shadow world, as mentioned before. [I spent, like, 4 hours today wrestling with plot, because I realised that this all made a little more sense if I finally stopped trying to completely match the game. Plus, we need some time for Shadow Yosuke to develop before the fight with The Real Murderer™ happens.]

Strangely enough, the fog disappeared over the next several days. On the third day after Nanako’s miraculous recovery, the group met at Junes. Everyone was confused, Naoto most of all.

“Maybe… it’s over?” Rise looked hopeful. “Has Namatame really been the culprit all along?”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with the fog.” Naoto was clearly dissatisfied. “And he couldn’t have been; we’ve already gone over the discrepancies. There’s just too much left unanswered, but I don’t have enough _clues!_ ” She hit the table - albeit lightly - and everyone looked startled; it was rare for the detective to lose her temper.

“Hey, hey.” Kanji frowned, hesitantly reaching out to pat her shoulder before deciding against it; Yu wasn’t sure he blamed the guy, since Naoto really did look angry. “Dude, you’re the one who figured everything out up until now, yanno? We just gotta start lookin’ for clues. It’s not the first time we ran into a dead end.” He looked around the table. “Right?”

“Kanji’s right.” Yu leaned over. “If we don’t have clues, then we keep looking. It’s not like the fog itself was a clue, and with it gone, Nanako is going to get better - something I think we can all agree is a good thing.” There were nods around the table, and he gave a wry smile. “Not to mention that it’s easier for me to think.” He put a hand briefly on Naoto’s arm, in a gesture of support. “I know how frustrated you are, but this isn’t a regular case; all we can do is keep looking.”

She gave a long sigh. “I know, Yu-senpai. I just worry.”

“We all do.” He looked down the table. “Teddie.” 

“Sensei!” The blonde boy straightened. 

“You and I will go into the TV to see if we can find anything. We won’t go too far - certainly not beyond any places we’ve been before - but it’s worth seeing if we note any changes since the fog is gone-”

“I’m going too.” Souji, who was sitting across from him, looked worried. “Yu, that place is dangerous, we all know it. And for you and Teddie to be the only two there, well…”

Yu looked surprised, but before he could respond, Yosuke - who was sitting next to Souji - nodded vigourously. “Yeah! Come on, bro. I get that we need to split up to look for clues but _come on_. Souji and I are gonna come with you.”

Yu knit his eyebrows, but the nods around the table were enough to make him sigh and shrug. “All right. Souj and Yosuke, with Teddie and I.”

“ _Sennnnpai_.” Rise looked unhappy. “Why Ted and not me?”

“Because we’re not looking _for_ anyone, Rise. I need Teddie because, like me, he used to live there - and if what Naoto surmises is correct, he was there a _lot_ longer than I was. Besides.” He smiled at her. “I need you, Chie, and Yukiko to start talking to people around the shopping district. You’re far and away our most charming members.”

“Welllll… that _is_ true.” She didn’t look completely happy, but the compliment clearly pleased her. “Okay! Leave it to us!”

“Of course. Naoto may have some ideas of the kind of information she’d like you to gather. Meanwhile, Naoto and Kanji, I’d like you to talk to uncle and Adachi-san. Namatame, too, if you can manage it. Uncle would have a heart attack if Souj or I started asking about the case, and the murders are only getting colder. Maybe he’ll let you check out Namatame’s apartment or something.”

“That’s a good idea, Yu-senpai.” She nodded at Kanji. “I’ll be glad to have Kanji-kun with me; those are likely to be the most dangerous places - apart from the TV world - if we’re correct and there’s still a murderer out there.”

Kanji blushed at this, but didn’t say anything.

* * *

After a trip back home to fetch their gear, Yu and Souji met Teddie and Yosuke back in the electronics department. 

“Man, you should see Rise.” Yosuke was chuckling. “She’s out there, bouncing up to random strangers to ask them about the murders, and they _love_ it.”

“Well, that’s Rise for you.” Yu smiled. “Thanks for coming with us.”

“Course, bro. That’s what we’re all here for.” The brunette smiled at Yu, and then Souji, and Yu found that it didn’t bother him as much when his brother and Yosuke were together - part of it was that the fog was gone, he knew, but part of it was also that his twin had been just as gentle and caring as ever in the past few days, and it was easier to believe that he hadn’t lost either of them.

 _It just needed time_. 

Still, it was a fragile-enough peace, and while there were still conversations that needed to be had, he was more than happy to wait a bit. _Heal a little more_.

They headed into the TV; inside, the fog was still as thick as ever, and Yosuke gave a disheartened sigh.

“Man. Here I was hoping it was all over or something.”

“We knew better.” Souji smiled faintly even as he shook his head at his boyfriend; Yu, meanwhile, stood still, listening. After a bit, his brother raised an eyebrow at him; it took him a moment, but he caught the look and gave a wry smile.

“Sorry. Ever since- well, ever since we were in here last, I’ve wondered just how different this place would be now; it’s not like I was paying much attention last time.”

“And?”

“It’s… weird. It’s not that I hear things, or anything like that. It just… feels more malleable. You know how I had my katana last time?”

Souji nodded, walking up beside him. “Yeah. I’d wondered about that.”

“I didn’t bring it in, obviously; I don’t know exactly how it happened, I just… needed it, so it was there.”

“Ooooh, Sensei! You’re like me! That’s how I was able to make the glasses you guys wear!” Teddie looked excited, and Yu laughed quietly.

“I see. Well, Teddie; I’m going to have to rely on you here. I don’t know what is and isn’t different, since _everything_ is different to me.”

The little bear looked pleased. “Leave it to me!” He started sniffing the ground, and Yosuke rolled his eyes; Yu smiled as Souji hid a laugh behind his hand. Surprisingly enough, however, Teddie paused before Yu could gently suggest that they head somewhere other than the entrance.

“There’s somebody here!” 

Everyone sobered up immediately; the three boys looked at one another as Yu and Yosuke reached for their weapons. 

“Who is it, Teddie? Where are they?”

“I dunno, it feels kinda weird. But they’re that way!” He pointed, and Yosuke groaned.

“Oh my _god_ , are you serious? I am so, _so_ tired of that place!” 

“Yep! Beary serious!” Teddie clasped his hands behind his back. “I might not have as good a sniffer as Rise-chan, but when my nose knows, it never lies!”

The brunette just sighed as Souji patted Teddie’s head. “Good job, Ted.” The bear beamed up at him, and Yu nodded to the others.

“Shall we?”

* * *

The shopping district was probably the closest area they knew about - other than Mayumi Yamano’s room of despair - and when they got there, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 

“Are you sure your nose _isn’t_ broken, Ted?” Yosuke looked around. “I don’t-”

“No, he’s right.” Yu felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising. “We’re not alone.”

“They're not very social, whoever they are.” Souji tightened his grip on his katana. “Should we look around?”

“Yes, that’s probably the best-”

“ _Ugh_. You guys just can’t take a hint, can you? If somebody doesn’t come out and talk, _maybe they just don’t want to_. You ever think about that?”

The twins jerked their head around to look at Yosuke; the brunette, however, just had an ‘oh shit’ look on his face. “I didn’t say that.”

“No…” Yu spoke slowly, turning to scan the area. “It sounded like-”

“Like Yosuke’s shadow!” Teddie pointed; a figure materialized out of the fog in front of them, sarcastically clapping his hands.

“Oh, well done! You’re just as helpful as you were the first time, aren’t you?” It was, in fact, Shadow Yosuke - still wearing the same Yasogami uniform, still wearing the same headphones; still the spitting image of Yosuke, except for the eyes. _And a different attitude_. He walked up, hands in his pockets; everyone gripped their weapons, but all he did was lean over, studying Teddie. “Although, _man_. Little shadow-bear’s all grown up now, huh?”

Teddie raised his paws, taking a stance that mimicked the characters in one of Yosuke’s fighter games. “I’ve got a persona now! I won’t hesitate to use it!”

Shadow Yosuke just laughed - the same echoing laugh they remembered from their first encounter - and straightened up. “Jeeze. You guys aren’t tired of playing detective yet?”

Yosuke clenched his fists - Yu noticed that Souji had already moved up next to the brunette, ready to pull him out of the way if need-be. “What the hell is your problem, huh? I told you before and I’ll tell you again, I’m not just doing this for kicks!” He looked at Souji and, seeming to get some strength from his boyfriend, squared his shoulders. 

“Oooh, look at you, all giddy and _in love_ ; now that you’ve got a boyfriend, you think you’re on top of the world, don’t you? Somebody finally appreciates the great Yosuke Hanamura! Must be nice, right?” The shadow smirked as Souji narrowed his eyes. “Oooh, man, your boyfriend’s getting mad now. Gotta love the loyalty. Right?”

He addressed this last word at Yu, who’d been watching the whole scenario, feeling confused - and a little off. When the shadow turned to him, he tightened his hands on his katana, but he didn’t feel like using it would be necessary. Beyond the attitude - as expected, from a shadow - the other Yosuke didn’t seem to be hostile. _Just… annoyed? There’s something else. Tired? That's part of it, but not everything._

Either way, he wasn’t going to let the shadow needle him. “Actually, yes. I do. Souji and I both care a lot about Yosuke, and if you’re going to attack him, we’ll have to stop you.” 

“Oooh, so threatening, so _noble_.” Shadow Yosuke narrowed his eyes, looking at Yu. “Look at you pretending to be human and glad to have the chance. Your face really pisses me off, you know that?”

“Then don’t look at it.” Yu shrugged. “And I’m not going to rise to your bait. Pretending, real, either way, I am who I am and nobody’s had a problem with it before.” 

The look on the shadow’s face was _different_ from the one he had when he looked at Yosuke. _Resentment? Jealousy?_ Before Yu could place it, though, Yosuke was speaking again.

“So, what the hell is going on? I already accepted you. I already know you’re part of me, and all that crap.”

Shadow Yosuke turned away from Yu with a sarcastic expression that was more weary than it was mocking. “Congratulations. Good for you. Doesn’t mean I have to _like_ you, now, does it?”

Souji - Yu could tell he’d caught the expression, as well - tilted his head. “You’re not fighting us. Why?”

For a second, the shadow’s eyes sparked, and everyone tightened their grip on their weapons. “Fight? If that’s what you really want I can certainly oblige.” He laughed - but it wasn’t as vehement or as derisive as it had been the first time around, months before, and it died relatively quickly. “ _Man_. All I _want_ is for you guys to go the hell away, you know? You keep coming in here and that just makes it hard to think.”

His tone of voice was one Yu understood, very well. _He sounds as tired as I felt the other day_. Looking at his brother, he finally sheathed his sword. “I don’t think this is getting us any closer to figuring anything out, do you?”

Souji shook his head. “Although.” He turned to the shadow. “We might as well ask, while we’re here. Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary over the last few days?”

“Other than _you guys?_ ” Shadow Yosuke just snorted. 

“Come on, we’re not gonna get anything else out of this joker.” Yosuke sounded angry. “Let’s just go.”

“ _Finally_.” With an annoyed huff, the shadow faded back into the fog. As Souji put an arm around Yosuke’s shoulders, they walked away; there was a prickle across Yu’s shoulders, however, that suggested that they were still being watched. He couldn’t be certain, though, and he wasn’t going to ask Teddie. 

“You okay?” He looked at Yosuke, who was leaning against Souji’s shoulder; the brunette nodded, although he still looked frustrated.

“I guess. I don’t get why he’s here, though.”

“He’s not hostile, though, and he doesn’t seem to be dangerous.” Souji looked at Yu. “Did he?”

Yu shook his head, looking back in the direction from which they’d just come. “No more than any of the rest of us are.” Finally shaking his head, he looked at the group. “I don’t think we’re going to get anything else… let’s go back.”

* * *

Yosuke didn’t seem very keen to talk about it, once they’d all reconvened; Yu didn’t blame him. _He_ felt weird enough about it, he could only imagine how it was affecting the brunette. They had to bring it up to the group, of course, but eventually, they all agreed that it had no recognizable ties to the mystery. 

Luckily, the girls had gotten a handful of comments and statements from people in the shopping district, and Naoto had - somehow - gotten Dojima’s permission to investigate Namatame’s apartment, under Adachi’s supervision. She’d found his diary, and now she just needed some time to process everything.

After a group dinner, everybody went their separate ways; Yu pretended not to notice Souji giving Yosuke a quick kiss while he was pulling on his jacket, and the twins headed home. 

In bed after his shower, Yu lay back, arms crossed under his head. He could see a faint glow through the crack of Souji’s bunk; _he’s probably texting Yosuke_. 

The thought didn’t bother him like it once had. The brunette’s name, however, reminded him of that afternoon in the TV, and _that_ … was something he wasn’t sure about, either what to think or how to feel. 

_Has he been there this whole time? I didn’t notice him the other day. We’ve been back several times since Yosuke got Jiraya, and he never showed up. Why is he there? Is it because of the fog?_

If nothing else, the shadow brunette’s attitude had changed. _He looked so tired. Not that I blame him. It’s so empty there; even Teddie used to talk about it. I can imagine that the regular shadows don’t care, they seem mindless enough, but - what was it that Naoto called them… egos? Persona-shadows. They’ve got to be bored, if they're around. I know that the little time I was there was already too lonely for words, and I had something else to occupy my attention_.

Lonely. That was what Yu had been trying to pinpoint, the entire time the shadow had been talking to them. _He looked lonely_.

Sighing, he rolled over in his bunk. _So what am I going to do about it? Why am I so concerned?_

* * *

Yu had drama after school the next day. Souji offered to wait, but Yu - knowing that his brother and Yosuke hadn’t really had much time to _themselves_ lately - shook his head.

“Go ahead, you guys. I really don’t know how late it’s gonna be - you know how Yumi gets, sometimes.” Indeed, he’d been dragged into more than his fair share of after-club practices before. Souji eyed his twin, but before he could say anything, Yu waved them off. He tucked his satchel under his arm, but halfway across the walkway to the practice building, he stopped.

 _I don’t really feel up to this today_.

But what did he want to do? Not go and find his brother - no, Souji and Yosuke deserved time to themselves. He still felt a little lonely when he thought about it, but it was no longer a sticking point. At a loss, he started to head home, but halfway down the floodplain, he made up his mind. Stopping by the house, he changed out of his school uniform, and headed for Junes. 

He ignored the part of his mind that reminded him that the others would probably be mad at him, if they found out; it wasn’t like he intended to _stay_ there, and after visiting with Teddie, he was fairly certain that as long as he was careful, the TV world posed much less of a threat to him than it did to the rest of the group. 

He also ignored the part of his mind that reminded him that Shadow Yosuke didn’t _want_ to see him. _Talking to me has got to be better than being lonely, at least? Right? I hope_.

When he got to the shopping district he was sure that _someone_ was still there, but unlike the day before, nobody came to meet him. He checked out the liquor store, but no one was there, either; it wasn’t until he passed the little playground across the street from the now-closed drugstore that he saw a silhouette. Before he could approach, the shape moved, as if it had turned its head, and a familiar voice spoke. 

“You’re not carrying any weapons today. Did you _want_ me to attack you?”

Putting his hands into his pockets, Yu walked over; the shadow was sitting on one of the concrete mounds that surrounded the area, looking at the empty playground. Hesitating for a second, the silver-haired boy took a seat on the next mound over. 

“I don’t think you’re going to attack me. Besides, if you do-” He held out his hand, and his katana appeared before just as quickly disappearing. “You know as well as I do that I don’t need to carry one.”

Shadow Yosuke snorted. “At least you’re not _completely_ stupid, although if you’ve got any sense, why are you here? Did you come here to condescend to me?” He sounded bitter, and the tone made Yu frown.

“Look. I’m not saying I know how you feel, but I kinda do. You hate me for pretending to be human, but it’s all I’ve known for the last sixteen years. Now I’m stuck trying to figure out exactly _what_ I am.”

For a moment, the shadow was silent; he just looked at Yu with his golden eyes, and Yu realised for the first time that a shadow’s eyes could show a lot more than just anger and derision. Finally, Shadow Yosuke shrugged. 

“...I guess.” He put his hands up, pulling his bangs away from his eyes; it was a different gesture than the human Yosuke used, and the realisation made Yu blink for a moment. The shadow didn’t seem to notice his expression, however, and he sighed. “I wish you people would just leave me alone.”

 _Even as he says that he sounds lonely_. Yu leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked out over the shadowy playground. “I can go, but… tell me first, what do you do when we’re not here? Just sit around and think? Doesn’t that get lonely?”

At the word ‘lonely’, the shadow’s eyes flashed, and he scowled. “You’re annoying.”

“Yeah. I get that a lot.” Yu shrugged. “You can walk away any time, and I’ll go home.”

There was silence between them for a few moments; finally, the shadow huffed, turning away slightly. “Whatever. I’m bored. It’s better than watching the basics wander around.” He pointed at a few shadowy mounds down the street, almost out of sight; they didn’t seem to pay the two any mind. “They get into fights over the _stupidest_ shit. Sometimes it’s funny, but usually it’s just boring.”

“I’m surprised they’re not trying to attack me.”

“They won’t, unless I tell them to.” Shadow Yosuke looked at him. “I know you guys figured _that_ much out, they obey the resident “main” shadow. Here, that happens to be me.”

Despite his words, he didn’t seem too pleased by that fact; Yu looked at him.

“So. Why _are_ you here?”

A displeased expression crossed the shadow’s face. “Hell if I know. Fuck. You think I’d _be_ here, if I didn’t have to be?”

“Surely there’s-”

Yu didn’t get a chance to finish before Shadow Yosuke’s head snapped up; his shoulders tensed, and he scowled. “Oh, _great_.” This was immediately followed by shouting and running; Souji and Yosuke came tearing up, both out of breath, both looking alarmed. 

“Yu! What the hell!” Souji sounded upset, and Yu winced. Before he could say anything, however, Shadow Yosuke stood up.

“Annnnnd the hero brigade arrives. Keep your pants on, _jeeze_.” 

“Shut up, asshole.” Yosuke clenched his hands. “Don’t talk to Souji like that.”

“Oh, right, I forgot. His pants are _your_ prerogative. Sorry.” His gaze flickered to Yu for a second, and then he shrugged. “I’m outta here.”

He disappeared - one minute there, the next minute gone - and Yu sighed, standing up and turning to the others. “Sorry, guys. I guess I lost track of time.”

“I thought you were going to drama practice! I texted you to see if you wanted to get dinner with us but you never responded, and when I tried to call you, there was no signal. Don’t worry me like that!” Souji hugged Yu, sounding almost as upset as he had the week before.

Looking sheepish, Yu returned the hug. “... I’m sorry. I should have said something. I just… decided at the last minute.”

Yosuke shook his head. “We’re not mad, Yu, just worried.” He put a hand on Souji’s shoulder. “Hey. Let’s go get dinner? I’d rather not talk about it here.”

“Yeah.” Souji let out a breath and started to walk towards the entrance. “Let’s head home. I’ll make curry.”

* * *

Yosuke had gone home and the twins were washing dishes when Souji looked sideways at his brother. 

“Why’d you go back?”

Pausing, Yu looked down at the chopsticks he was holding. “I don’t know. I can’t really explain it. I just… he seems lonely, and I know how that feels. I still _feel_ that dream - the one about… being a shadow - sometimes when I’m not awake but I’m not asleep, you know?” He sighed, rinsing them and handing them to his brother, who was drying. He picked up a rice bowl, flicking a few grains into the water before continuing. “I guess, if I had to say anything, it just feels like he needs someone, maybe a friend, I don’t know.”

Yu, scrubbing the rice bowl, missed the sharp look Souji gave him at the words 'needs someone;' whatever his twin might be thinking, Yu was oblivious to any extra meanings that might be hiding behind his words. With a soft exhale, Souji took the bowl when Yu had finished rinsing it. Drying it, he set it in the cupboard with the others.

“Okay. I get that. And I get _it_. You’ve got as much in common with him as you do with us, and I can understand wanting to explore that. Just promise me you’ll be careful. Let me know whenever you go back?”

Yu felt an odd reluctance over the idea, but it made sense, so he nodded. “Yeah. I will. I promise. Even if it’s a text or something.”

“Good. Thank you.”

The twins were quiet as they finished the dishes; as Yu handed Souji the last plate, he cleared his throat.

“Hey, Souj. Do you mind if I talk to Yosuke after school tomorrow?” When his brother raised both eyebrows, looking surprised, Yu rubbed his neck. “I never really apologized to him, you know? I think there’s stuff I need to say to him before things are completely right again between us.” He gave a self-depreciating laugh. “I promise I’m not going to hit on him or anything. I already said I don’t feel that way.”

“Yu.” Souji gave him a _look_. “I’m not worried about that, don’t be an idiot. Of course you can. He’s not _mine_ to give permission over… but I appreciate you asking.”

“Eh.” Yu shrugged. “How about we all three go to Okina afterwards, for karaoke? I mentioned it before to Yosuke, he seemed up for it.”

“Yeah.” Souji smiled. “Yeah, that sounds really good. It’s Saturday, so we’ll have enough time to do karaoke _and_ get coffee or dinner or something.” 

Yu grinned at this. “Ramen?” 

“Ramen.” Souji returned the grin, and the twins high-fived.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 6 of What Came from the Shadows

The next day, Yu dropped a folded note behind his back, onto Yosuke’s desk, when Sofue-sensei was busy writing on the board. A few minutes later, he felt something being wedged under his elbow; once he had the opportunity, he fished it out and unfolded the scrap of paper. 

> 1) Can we talk after school?

> _\- sure thing bro_

> 2) Let’s all 3 go to karaoke this afternoon.

> _\- hell yea_

Once the bell rang, the three of them gathered their things; they left together, but once they got to the floodplain, Souji nodded at the other two, squeezing Yosuke’s hand.

“I’ll head home. Grab me when you guys are done and we’ll all walk to the station. Unless we wanted to take our scooters?”

Yosuke shook his head, squeezing back. “Nah, let’s take the train. I think I need a new front wheel, it’s getting kinda worn. I’d hate to have it go flat on the way to town.” 

“Okay.” With a smile, Souji headed off; the other two watched him go before Yu headed down the steps to the riverbank; the brunette followed behind, hands in his pockets. They stood there for a time, looking out over the water; finally, Yu turned his head slightly to look at Yosuke.

“I’m sorry for being a dick, back before you and Souj started dating. And I’m sorry for making you guys uncomfortable afterwards.”

He saw Yosuke open his mouth, as if to say something, but then look at Yu and shut it again; he just nodded, for which Yu was grateful. It made it easier for him to continue. 

Fidgeting with one of the toggles on his winter coat, he looked down. “I know… there was the fog, and everything. I know that some of it was out of my hands, but… not all of it.” He spoke slowly, trying to pick the words that felt right, not just what sounded best. “No matter what… I still should have controlled myself better… than I did. After all.” He looked up, a wry expression on his face. “I was jealous… before the fog, you know?”

Yosuke gave him a quiet smile; he put his hand on Yu’s shoulder, but didn’t say anything, and Yu returned the smile with a smaller one of his own. “I was jealous. I thought… I don’t know what I thought. Maybe I thought I liked you… because Souj did? Maybe there’s… I don’t know. Something else there. But I wanted… to clear up what we said during our… fight. I.. care... a lot about you, but not in the way Souj does.” He looked up, and Yosuke nodded at him. “I just wanted to make that clear. I don’t want anything weird between us.”

The brunette waited a second, as if if making sure that Yu was done talking, before nodding again. “It’s okay, Yu. I get it. And don’t worry about being a dick, or whatever. We’ve all got our moments.” He gave a little laugh. “Here’s a secret. I told Souji already, because I don’t hide anything from him, but when we were still getting to know each other - after Saki-senpai, but before we all had that fight on the riverbank - I actually had a crush on you.” When Yu’s eyes widened, Yosuke nodded. “I love Souji. Things changed, obviously, a long time before we started going out. It’s okay to not know how you feel about somebody at first. As long as we’re friends, right?”

“Of course we are.” Yu smiled, this time more like his usual self. “Other than Souj, you’re my best friend.” He moved, hesitantly, towards Yosuke, and the brunette - grinning - gave him a hug. 

“Best buds. And we’ll both kick anybody’s ass who messes with Souji.” 

“Yeah.” Yu laughed, and if it was a little shaky, it was because he finally felt _relieved_. “Okay. Let’s go get Souj and head to Okina.”

“Sounds good!” Yosuke gave Yu’s shoulder one last pat as they headed back to the main path; as they walked along, he looked over. “So, hey. Why do you think my shadow’s back?”

Yu raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know. I’ve been wondering about that, myself. I get the feeling that it’s not usual. I mean, we never ran into Chie’s shadow, or Yukiko’s.” He looked at the brunette. “Do you think you guys have unfinished business? Is there something you need to deal with?”

“Ugh. I don’t think so!” Yosuke looked annoyed. “I’ve been thinking about it for the last two days, but I just can’t come up with anything, unless it’s this.” He gestured to himself and Yu. “I don’t think so, though? I mean, he would have said something. Instead, he’s just being a dick.”

Giving a little laugh, Yu shrugged. “I get the feeling he just doesn’t know how to deal with people. I can’t imagine you get a lot of social interaction in the TV world. He seems more lonely and confused than he does angry or hostile. Maybe you should go in and talk to him?”

“Pffffft.” Yosuke rolled his eyes. “Bro. You saw him yesterday. He wants _nothing_ to do with me. I’m surprised he didn’t chase you off!” 

“He tried.” Yu shrugged again. “I guess I’m just stubborn.”

“Yeah, you are.” The brunette smirked. “But it’s okay, we’re all used to it.” When Yu shoved his shoulder, he grinned, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “Seriously, though. If you’re gonna try to deal with him, well… good luck.”

* * *

The trip to Okina was a lot of fun, and Yu was glad he’d finally talked things out with Yosuke. Karaoke was a blast; at one point, while the brunette was off getting sodas for everybody, Yu leaned over to whisper something into his brother’s ear.

Souji blinked, and although he looked hesitant at first, he couldn’t stop a slow grin that matched his twin’s; Yu grabbed the controller, surfing through the song list before making a choice. He’d just managed to put the controller back where it had originally been and sit back on the couch when Yosuke returned.

“They’re bringing the drinks.” He threw himself back down onto the sofa next to Souji, who smiled innocently; Yu had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. _Sometimes my brother’s ability to keep a straight face terrifies me._

“Hey, Yosuke, it’s your turn.” Souji handed him the controller, and Yosuke - unaware that Yu had already keyed in a song - added one to the queue. The twins shot glances at each other; Souji was having trouble not laughing, now, too, and Yu suddenly had to rummage through his coat pocket to hide his face. 

Luckily, they didn’t have long to wait. The first notes started, and Yosuke’s face went from excited, to confused, to mortified; it was the song from the culture festival pageant, when they’d all had to cross-dress.

“WHAT THE HELL, YOU GUYS?” 

Yu and Souji collapsed on top of each other, howling with laughter; after slamming the ‘skip’ button, Yosuke grabbed a pillow and started hitting both of them. 

“OH. MY GOD. EVEN MY OWN BOYFRIEND. I’M GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH.”

Yu could barely breathe, he was laughing so hard; finally, he held up his hands. “Sorry! Sorry, it was my-” _wheeze_ “-my fault.” 

“Uh huh. I saw Souji’s face.” He looked at his boyfriend, who had the grace to look ashamed. Yosuke stared at him for a moment, until the corners of his mouth started to twitch, and he threw the pillow aside before sitting down between them, laughing. “God you guys are _assholes_. Jeeze!”

“I’m sorry, Yosuke.” Souji sat up, putting his chin on Yosuke’s shoulder. 

Sighing, the brunette ran a hand through his boyfriend’s hair. “It’s fine. I definitely believe that Yu started it.” He shot Yu a glance, and the other twin just gave him a grin. “Oh, well. As long as you guys don’t do this kind of thing in front of the others.”

“I would never.” Souji looked indignant. 

“Yeah.” Yu sat up. “We reserve the right to tease you. Do you think we’re going to share that?”

Yosuke stuck his tongue out at his friend, and Yu grinned again. All-in-all, it felt just like old times.

* * *

It was a week before Yu could go back into the TV world. True to his promise to Souji, he let his brother know after school, then headed home to change and go to Junes. As with the time before, he could tell that the shadow was still there; he didn’t have far to look, as he was back at the playground again, although this time he was sitting on a swing, breaking a twig into pieces. 

“Surprised you came back. Figured you’d be tired of playing counsellor by now.”

Yu took the swing next to the shadow's. “Are _you_ tired of it?”

Shadow Yosuke huffed. “Ugh. Do you answer _every_ question with a question?” Before Yu could respond, though, the shadow looked over his shoulder. “Hey. That idiot’s not going to show up today, is he?”

“That idiot?” Yu raised an eyebrow. “Yosuke?” He tightened his lips. “That _idiot_ is my friend. You only know the bad parts of him because that’s where you came from, I get that, but he’s _more_ than that.” 

The shadow caught his eye, then looked away, still picking at the twig in his hands. After a moment, he shrugged. “Whatever.”

Yu watched him for a few, then leaned back, crossing his legs. “Sorry it’s been a few days. I’ve had class, and some other obligations.”

“Obligations. Yeah.” Shadow Yosuke was still looking at the twig; there was an odd note in his voice that Yu couldn't place. “Whatever, it’s not like I noticed.” After a moment’s pause, he continued. “So, why do you always come in through that one TV? You could come in anywhere, you know? You don’t have to play by the same rules.”

Shrugging, Yu scratched his neck. “I dunno. I never really thought about it. It’s just… habit, I guess?”

“Pfft. Man, you really do think like a human, don’t you?” The shadow looked over at him, and Yu shrugged at him again.

“I _am_ human. Maybe I’m something more, too, but I’m happy being human.”

“Is it really that great?”

Yu nodded. “Yeah. I mean. I don’t remember a lot about what it was like before, but I’m happy. I’ve got people to care about, and we have a lot of fun.”

“Fun.” Shadow Yosuke snorted. “That would be nice. At least you’re not stuck here, in crapsville.”

“Why do you always hang out here? I guess the other places wouldn’t be that much better, but at least it’d be a new environment? Or are you locked here?”

The shadow shrugged. “Nah. I guess it’s just what I’m used to. I checked the other places out but man… they’re _weird_.”

The bathhouse flashed into Yu’s mind, and he grimaced. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.” Shadow Yosuke caught his eye, and they both struggled for a second before breaking out into snickers. 

_We’re actually having a conversation_. The thought made Yu feel warm inside.

The snickers only lasted for a moment, but Yu smiled as he leaned on one elbow, looking at the shadow. “I dunno. The base was kinda cool?”

Shadow Yosuke thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. It is. It’s still weird, though. I mean, really. Books seems like she can be pretty scary.”

“Books?” Yu looked surprised. “You mean Naoto?”

“Yeah.” The shadow rubbed his neck. “Her.” A shrug.

A thought struck Yu. “Speaking of Naoto. Do the others have shadows hanging around?” 

The same look of frustration Yu remembered from the last visit flashed across Shadow Yosuke’s face. “You’re Snowflake’s shadow, but you knew that, and you’re weird, anyway. You mean Princess, He-Man, Books, and the others?” A shrug. “I dunno. I never sensed any. They weren’t there when I checked the places out, anyway.”

“They’ve got names, you know.” Yu frowned. 

“Meh. It’s too much trouble.” A shrug. “And it’s getting pretty late, isn’t it?”

“Oh, shit, you’re right.” Yu looked at his phone; there was no reception, but the clock still worked, even inside that place. “Souj is making shogayaki tonight, and I told him I’d pick up some cabbage and carrots.” He stood up. “I’ll come back when I can.”

“Eh.” The shadow looked up at him for a moment, then away. “I’m not stopping you. Do whatever.” There was a note in his voice that almost sounded pleased, however, and Yu hid a smile.

“See you later.”

“... seeya.”

* * *

The next few weeks passed relatively quickly. Naoto had enough clues, after digging through Namatame’s diary, to determine that he _wasn’t_ the culprit - not of the murders of Mayumi Yamano or Saki Konishi - and that was enough to let her convince Dojima to let her continue the investigation. Adachi was against it, arguing that she’d just be in danger, but surprisingly enough, Dojima told him to shut up and deal with it, that Shirogane was better than half the detectives in their unit. Naoto was walking on clouds for days after that.

When the twins were getting ready for school the day before Christmas eve, Yu caught Souji's eye in the mirror. “So. What do you and Yosuke have planned for tomorrow?”

His brother flushed a little, busying himself with the buttons on his uniform jacket. “I don't know. We were going to hang out at his place, but...” A shrug. “Kanji was gonna take Ted, but it seems like he and Naoto have plans now, so...”

 _Ouch_. Souji raised an eyebrow. “Tell you what. _I_ don't have any plans, so I'll go over and Ted-sit. Invite Yosuke over here. Heck, I can spend the night; I'm sure Ted would be thrilled.”

At this implication, Souji turned beet-red. “ _Yu!_ ”

His brother snickered. “Oh, come on, Souj. I know as well as you do what Christmas eve is all about, and I also know you and Yosuke don't get a lot of time together. This is the perfect chance.”

Still crimson, his brother bit his lip. “Are you sure you don't mind?”

“Nah. I haven't spent a lot of time with Ted lately, anyway. I know he keeps trying to third-wheel your dates, so it's only fair that someone else take him tomorrow. It'll be fun, too. He'll want to watch movies or something; I can get behind that. Consider it my Christmas present to you guys.”

With a grateful smile, Souji – who was still bright red – nodded. “Okay, then. Thanks, Yu.”

Yu grinned, then nodded at the clock. “Meanwhile-”

“Oh, crap, we're going to be late!” Souji grabbed his satchel, and Yu did the same.

“Race you!”

* * *

Yosuke was pretty sure he'd never been more grateful to Yu as he was when Souji told him, after school, about his twin's offer. Not that he'd begrudged Kanji his date with Naoto – _lord knows it's time for those two to stop beating around the bush_ – but he'd _really_ been hoping for some alone time with his boyfriend. Not for anything _embarrassing_ , they just never... got much time alone. After all, Ted was always around, or they didn't want to leave Yu behind, or someone in the group needed something, or...

 _Okay, maybe I am hoping for something embarrassing_. He bit his lip, then decided not to think about it any more, lest he completely wreck his nerves.

Ted, of course, was over the moon when he heard that Yu-sensei was going to be spending the night. “Just us? I'm so beary lucky! Christmas is all about cake, right Yosuke? We can have cake and watch movies and it'll be so much fun!”

 _Cake. Shit. Yes. I need that, and then_ -

By the time Yu knocked on the door the next afternoon, Yosuke was relatively certain that he'd remembered everything he would need. He'd never been so _nervous_ before – not even when Souji had asked him out – but he was _pretty_ sure that it would be worth it.

Ted let Yu in, bouncing up and down and chanting 'sensei, sensei, sensei'; Yu just patted the boy on the head, and smiled at Yosuke. “I'll take it from here. Go have fun.”

Yosuke – not wanting to know how red he was at the moment – nodded. “Thanks, bro. Uh. Mom and dad left some casserole in the fridge, and there's juice and sodas in the pantry if there aren't any cold.”

“I'm sure I'll manage.” Yu made shooing motions at Yosuke. “Souji's cooking. I'm sure he could use some help.” A grin. “Just a warning, though – uncle and Nanako are coming home tomorrow morning, so I'll probably need to be back kinda early, maybe around eight.”

“Er, noted.” He decided to leave before he completely sank through the floorboards; grabbing his coat, his overnight bag, and the cake box he'd picked up at Junes, he escaped into the grey wintery afternoon, with Teddie calling out, “Say hello to Sou-senpai!” behind him.

When he finally got to the Dojimas', he knocked; before he was finished, though, Souji opened the door. He was wearing a dress shirt, and khakis, and Yosuke was _really_ glad he'd decided to pull out the only fancy clothes he had that were actually clean, and then his boyfriend was leaning over to give him a soft, warm, lingering kiss, and suddenly it didn't matter how embarrassed he'd been that morning or the day before because he had the entire evening to spend with Souji.

“Hey.” Yosuke knew that he was grinning like an idiot, and he didn't care. “Happy Christmas.” He held the cake out, and Souji – looking pink but pleased – took it.

“Happy Christmas.” Closing the door behind Yosuke, he nodded. “Go ahead, set your stuff down, and I'll take it upstairs later.”

“Nah, partner, I got it.” Yosuke – having already kicked off his shoes – was halfway up the stairs before Souji's protests reached his ears. He figured it was just Souji being polite – as he always was – but when he opened the bedroom door he stopped dead at the sight that met his eyes.

The guest futon had been laid out in the centre of the room – the table that was usually there was shoved between the twins' desks – and there were battery-powered tealights flickering on most of the flat surfaces around the room. The futon was piled with enough blankets and pillows that Souji _had_ to have raided his own bed, as well as the closet; the entire setup just made Yosuke murmur “ _Woah_.”

Behind him, Souji skidded to a stop, having chased him up the stairs; at Yosuke's one-word exhale, he squeaked. “It's just that... my bunk is so high, and I didn't know how you felt about heights, and I knew it was going to be cold, and oh god I swear I'm not expecting anything please don't be mad-”

“Souji.” Yosuke turned around. If his boyfriend hadn't been so terrified and embarrassed, the brunette would have found his expression to be absolutely adorable; as it was, he just smiled softly, putting his hands on Souji's shoulders. “It's amazing.”

The fear ebbed out of Souji's eyes, although he still looked embarrassed. “I meant it, that I'm not expecting anything.”

With a small smirk, Yosuke slid his arms around his boyfriend's waist. “Let me just say that I am interested in doing anything you're interested in tonight.”

“O-oh. Okay.” Souji's cheeks flared again – this time for a different reason – and Yosuke leaned in to kiss him. They'd gotten a lot better – with a lot of very enjoyable practice – and when he slid his hand into Souji's hair, his boyfriend just 'hmmm'd' happily, wrapping his arms around Yosuke's waist as he moved closer, deepening the kiss.

Standing so close together, it wasn't difficult for Yosuke to notice that, yeah, Souji was just as excited for tonight as he was. He slid his hand up Souji's back, eliciting a very nice shiver from his boyfriend; all-in-all, it was really tough to restrain himself and finally pull back. And when Souji – nicely flushed and a little dishevelled – opened his eyes and licked his lips, Yosuke's willpower almost flew out the window, then and there.

Luckily, the oven timer chose that moment to go off, and Souji's eyes widened. “Oh, no. The chicken!” He flew downstairs in a panic, and Yosuke – chuckling – followed behind, more slowly. He'd join Souji, help him cook – or at least wrap his arms around his boyfriend's waist and _watch_ him cook, _Souji's really so good with his hands_ – and they'd have a nice dinner at the kotatsu, and cake, and maybe make out for a while, and then they'd go back up and take a better look at the bedroom. _We've got time_.

* * *

Back at the Hanamura household, between the cake and his excitement, Ted had only made it through two movies before falling fast asleep, sprawled across the futons (he'd brought his out of his cubby, insisting on setting it up next to sensei's in the middle of the bedroom so that they could have a 'real sleepover.')

It was barely ten at night, though, and Yu wasn't tired. After flipping through Yosuke's video game collection and deciding that he really wasn't interested in playing any games, he looked at the clock. _Junes is open all night... eh. Why not. It's been a couple of days since I was able to visit. It might be a while after this, too, with uncle and Nanako coming home for a week_.

Leaving Teddie alone wasn't really an issue, as long as he left a note to say that he was going for a walk or something of the sort; it wasn't that the boy couldn't stay by himself, it was that he got lonely – something Yu completely understood. He was asleep now, though, so Yu slipped into his coat before leaving the aforementioned note and locking the door, quietly.

When he got to the shadowed shopping district, he found Shadow Yosuke in the liquor store, sitting in front of an old TV set. The screen was flickering, and the silver-haired boy stepped forward, wondering just what the shadow was watching.

Before he got close enough to see, however, the shadow spun around, blocking his view. “Oh, uh. Hey. Isn't it too late for you or something?”

“Er.” _He's never acted like this before_. “I was spending the night with Teddie, and he's asleep, so I figured I'd come say hi. Sorry if I interrupted anything... I can go-”

“Eh.” Before he could turn, the shadow shrugged. “You came all the way out here, might as well hang around if you're _that_ bored.”

“Whatcha watching?” Souji took a seat on a sake barrel across the counter from where Shadow Yosuke had been sitting. “I didn't realize you could get TV in here.”

“We don't.” The shadow scratched the back of his head. “It's not what you think. But we can look out through other TVs, see what's going on outside, kinda.” A shrug. “Well, not TVs _anywhere_. I dunno what the range is.”

“So you... can watch anybody that's in the room with a TV?” That suggested a lot of different things to Yu, some of which weren't so pleasant.

Some of what was going through his head must have shown on his face, because Shadow Yosuke got a disgusted look on his face. “Ugh, _hell no_. I mean, we could, but why would I want to.” He seemed embarrassed. “I don't go anywhere near personal TVs. Mostly I stick to the ones at Junes, or in restaurants or crap. There are some big ones outdoors, somewhere. That's kind of interesting, from time to time.”

Feeling a little relieved, Yu nodded. “Sounds like the ones by the movie theatre in Okina.”

“Could be.” The shadow shrugged. “I've just been watching people freaking out over this “Christmas” thing. I don't get it.”

“It's a day people spend with...” Yu hesitated. “The people they care about.”

“Then why aren't you with your brother?”

“Because he's with Yosuke.” Yu flushed.

“Oh. _That_ kind of day.” Shadow Yosuke looked at him again. “Is that why you were with the bear?”

“I was spending time with him so that Souj and Yosuke would have the evening free.”

“And... then why are you _here?_ ”

Willing himself not to flush harder – _I didn't come here for an interrogation!_ \- Yu raised an eyebrow. “I already told you. He's asleep, and I was bored.”

“Ah.” The shadow turned back to the TV set, turning it off. “Let's go outside. It's dank in here.”

“It is kinda chilly.” Yu rubbed his arms. “You can feel stuff like that?”

“Yeah, when we're stuck in physical forms like this.” A shrug as he left the liquor store; Yu followed, and they headed back over to sit on the cement mounds where they'd talked the first day Yu had come to see the shadow. Yu sat down, trying very hard not to think about Shadow Yosuke's last question – _why_ am _I here?_ \- when his companion sighed, leaning back against a wooden post. “I've been learning about time in your world. It's been almost a month since I got stuck here and I still don't know why.”

He sounded frustrated, and Yu frowned; they'd talked many times over the past few weeks, but it was mostly about the outside world, since the shadow was usually never so forthcoming. Leaning forward, the silver-haired boy wrapped his arms around his knees. “What was it like before you... got stuck here?”

Shadow Yosuke cracked one eye open, looking at him before staring up at the fake, leaden sky. “Eh. I can't really tell you much about it because there was a lot _less_. But I didn't have to worry about thinking, either. We just drifted around, kind of... there, but not? I don't know about the others, for me there was always a pull when my host came in, and I'd follow you guys around, and it was kind of interesting, and then you'd leave and I'd go back to drifting and forget about everything.”

Shuddering, Yu shook his head. “I had a dream like that. I think it was about the time I became human. Maybe from a shadow's point of view it's preferable – _I_ certainly wouldn't want to be stuck in here - but-” he trailed off with a sudden wince as he saw the _look_ on Shadow Yosuke's face.

“Yeah, I'm sure you _wouldn't_ , but some of us don't have a choice. So, yeah, drifting is better than being _stuck_ here.”

“Sorry.” Yu's voice was quiet, and the shadow just looked back up at the sky.

“Whatever. Either way, I _am_ stuck here. You came in like a shadow that afternoon, and your brother came along, dragging _him_ , and when I showed up like normal things just got weird. I thought maybe _he_ had some kind of unsolved issues but hell. _He_ looks pretty _damn_ happy to me. And I _hate him_ for it.”

These last words were said with a bitterness that wrenched Yu's heart, and he had to take a deep breath. “I get why you're mad at Yosuke. But like I said... he's really not that bad. He's-”

“A good guy?” The shadow's voice sounded like it was trying to be sarcastic, but only succeeding in being lonely. “Yeah. I heard. You and Snowflake are both in love with him.”

Yu inhaled sharply at this. “What?” He tried to think back; _we never talked about it that much. I don't think we argued about that in here? Did we?_ “Where did you-”

“Psh, like it isn't obvious?” Shadow Yosuke sounded sullen. “I saw you guys in here, and I see you sometimes on the TV when you’re all out together with ‘prior obligations,’ like pillow fights and karaoke.” He made air quotes with his fingers.

“But I’m not!” Yu refused to stop and think about why he was so worried that the shadow had the wrong idea - or the fact that it sounded like he was _jealous_. “Souj is in love with Yosuke, yeah, and for a while I thought I was, too, but I’m _not_. Yosuke means a lot to me, yeah, but… it’s not romantic.” 

For what felt like an eternity, Shadow Yosuke just studied him. Yu tried to keep his expression neutral; inside, however, he was trying not to yell at himself. _Why am I so worried about what he thinks?_ Finally, though, the shadow just shrugged.

“Eh, whatever. No skin off my back.” His voice was much more mild than it had been, though, and he looked down, scratching his nose. 

Yu grasped at the chance to change the subject, starting to talk about school and clubs; as he did, Shadow Yosuke scoffed that he didn’t care, but Yu saw the flicker that told him the shadow really _was_ interested. He was grateful enough to be off the subject of his romantic feelings that he talked a lot longer than he’d planned; eventually he ended up yawning in the middle of an imitation of Hosoi-sensei and his stupid puppet. 

“Shit, sorry. Oh god, it’s so late, I really need to go.”

“Eh.” Shadow Yosuke, who’d been listening pretty intently, blinked. “Oh. Right.” Rubbing his eyes, he looked around. “You know. I could just find you a different TV to leave out of. Your room, maybe?”

Yu was about to thank him when he froze, remembering that, no, he was staying with _Teddie_. For good reason. “UH. No. Yosuke’s visiting Souj, remember? And I mean. I gotta go home in the morning, but right now… Yeah, it’s late, but it’s not _that_ late.”

“We could just watch.” 

The shadow smirked and Yu’s eyes widened and he couldn’t stop the grimace that spread across his face. “Oh my god, _ew? No!_ ” 

“ _Ahaha_ , the look on your face!” The shadow started laughing. “I told you already I don’t watch personal TVs anyway, remember? Ohhhhh man… your _face_.” 

Yu realized that while Shadow Yosuke was laughing at him, it wasn’t sarcastic; it was the kind of laugh he and Souji shared that day in Okina when they were teasing Yosuke, and he found himself smiling before giving in and laughing, as well. He’d just thought that _this is really nice_ when the shadow finally sat up, wiping his eyes. 

“Okay. How about the TV in the bear’s room? If he’s sleeping, there shouldn’t be anything weird going on.”

The silver-haired boy couldn’t lie to himself; he really didn’t actually want to leave. But he knew he had to, so he nodded. “That sounds okay. Thanks.”

“Eh.” Suddenly too busy to meet Yu's eyes, the shadow stood up and dusted off his uniform pants. “No biggie. We gotta go to the entrance, though, none of these TVs are big enough to fit you and while the bear could just summon one out of midair, I can’t.”

“Oh, okay.” Yu ignored the fact that he really didn’t mind having Shadow Yosuke’s company for an extra few minutes as they headed for the entrance.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 7 of What Came from the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever since playing P4 the first time (even before P4G), I've been fascinated by the Izanami/Izanagi dynamic. While I know the game hints that the protag has nothing to do with the two, and that he was just chosen because he represented Hope, I took this chance to explore the idea of what would happen if Souji/Yu actually _was_ representative of Izanagi (an avatar, rebirth, what-have-you).

When Souji woke the next morning with Yosuke snuggled up against his shoulder, he couldn’t help smiling; leaning over, he softly nuzzled the brunette’s hair. “Hey. Morning.”

Yosuke groaned a little, turning away from the early-morning light shining through the window, but when he opened his eyes and looked at his boyfriend, an answering smile broke across his face. Leaning up, he gave Souji a kiss, mumbling, “Love you.”

“Love you, too.” Souji tightened his arms for a moment, then slowly started to untangle the blankets. “While I’d love to lay here forever…”

“...Yu will be along any time, and your uncle and Nanako, too. I know.” Yosuke gave a stretch that practically bent his back in half, then climbed to his feet, rubbing his eyes. “Okay. Let’s get this place cleaned up and then maybe breakfast?”

The silver-haired boy laughed at his hopeful look. “Of course.”

* * *

When Yu opened the front door an hour later, the room was back to its normal layout, Yosuke’s bag was packed and sitting near the front door, and the brunette was drinking coffee at the table while Souji stood at the stove, deftly rolling tamagoyaki.

“Hey, guys, morning.” Yu appeared in the kitchen doorway, his overnight bag slung over his shoulder; Yosuke grinned at him, pushing the chair across the table out with his foot. Yu shook his head, however. 

“Gonna grab a shower,” he said. “But I’m glad I made it in time for breakfast. Teddie kindly offered me his cereal-”

Yosuke grimaced. “Ugh. That stuff is nothing but sugar.”

“Yeah. And I didn’t feel comfortable using your mom’s kitchen.” He eyed the counter. “There any coffee left?”

“Yeah, bro, go ahead. I’ll make you a cup.”

“Thanks.” He smiled. “Sugar, no cream. Be back in a few.”

After his footfalls faded upstairs, Yosuke - who’d moved over to the coffeemaker to make Yu’s coffee - looked over at Souji.

“Something’s up with Yu.”

Souji, who’d watched his brother go upstairs and was still staring after him, nodded. “Yeah.” He didn’t elabourate, however, just looking at his boyfriend and shrugging with an ‘I don’t know’ expression as he went back to the eggs.

Yu took a long enough shower that Souji was afraid his coffee would get cold; when he came down, however, he seemed to be less distracted, and the three of them shared a lighthearted breakfast before Yosuke headed home, though he stayed long enough to greet Nanako (and, of course, Dojima.)

* * *

The next week was busy. Dojima and Nanako were only home until the day after New Year’s, which meant that the twins spent as much time as they could with their little cousin; between that and trying to help Naoto make sense of the murder case, Yu only had a couple of chances to visit the TV world, though he did everything he could to make time.

He was getting ready to take a shower the night after his uncle and cousin went back to the hospital when Souji suddenly hammered on the bathroom door. “Yu! _Yu!_ ” 

Jerking the door open, Yu found his brother waiting outside, an anxious look on his face. “It’s Yosuke’s shadow. He’s at the TV, he says he’s got to talk to us, _now_.”

A sick feeling coiling in his stomach, Yu hurried into the bedroom; the TV was flickering, and when Yu touched it, he saw a silhouette on the other side. 

“Man, hurry it up, you two! There’s scaffolding here, you guys can come in without falling.”

After a glance at his brother, Yu climbed in, followed by Souji; Shadow Yosuke was waiting for them, but as soon as Yu straightened up, the shadow spluttered, turning red. 

“ _Dude!_ What the hell, put a shirt on!”

Yu - who’d completely forgotten that he’d been getting ready to take a shower - turned red as well, but he hid it with a scowl.

“What the hell you! You said it was so urgent it couldn’t wait, so we hurried!” With an annoyed huff, he stuck his head back through the TV - the twins had gotten a flat screen earlier that year for their birthday, hoping it would let them see the Midnight channel better (it hadn’t) - and grabbed a shirt out of the dresser. Pulling it over his head, he grabbed a crate next to his brother, who’d been watching the two gripe at each other.

The scaffold wasn’t large, but it was big enough for the three of them; still looking embarrassed - and annoyed - the shadow wrapped the cord of his headphones around his hand. “Pft, whatever, man. See if I help you guys next time.”

Souji leaned forward. “You’ve got information? I assume it’s about the murders?”

“Could be.” Shadow Yosuke looked at him. “There’s a guy hanging around, and I think he’s the one you’re looking for. He keeps coming to that weird room, though he doesn’t stay very long.”

The twins looked at each other for a split second, then Souji looked back. “What does he want?”

The shadow scoffed. “Yeah, because he just wanders around muttering to himself about his grand plans.” 

Souji flushed a little in embarrassment at this. “No, no, you’re right, sorry-”

“ _Pfft_.” Shadow Yosuke snickered. “I was giving you hell, he actually _does_. I think he’s kinda lost it. He seems really on edge.”

Yu gave the shadow a _look_ , and Shadow Yosuke glanced away, muttering something about having no sense of _humour_ ; with a sigh, Yu flicked his shoulder. 

“Then _what does he want?_ ”

“Actually.” Shadow Yosuke’s face grew serious, and he frowned. “He’s trying to kill Snowfla-” A pause, as his eyes flickered quickly to and away from Yu “-er, _Souji_.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I overheard him and some chick talking. Although, I don’t know if she was actually there with him. I didn’t see her.”

Yu felt himself going white at the words “trying to kill Souji.” It wasn’t until his twin put a hand over his that he exhaled, realising that he’d been holding his breath; he looked back at them. “Sorry. Ugh. Okay, what did they say?”

Shadow Yosuke - who’d been watching Yu, anxiously - took the headphones from around his neck. “Here.”

With a raised eyebrow, Souji took them. They didn’t extend far enough for both twins to listen at the same time, but when they leaned in together and each held an earpiece, they could hear well enough; a familiar voice crackled to life.

“- _gotta do something! You can’t let ‘em catch me, your schemes will be done for, too, you know!_ "

Yu’s knuckles went white as he gripped the earpiece, hissing, “Adachi!” Souji, next to him, shushed him, as the playback was still going.

“ _Can’t you use the fog to stop them?_ ”

A silvery voice that Yu didn’t recognize replied; it sounded cold and angry. 

“ _I’ve told you, the stronger_ he _is, the weaker_ I _am; I can’t use it indefinitely. It didn’t work last time, and as it failed twice I see no reason to waste resources now when I have to compensate for the mess you’ve made. Remember - I used the Midnight Channel to find you; I can find another tool. Don’t think I’m_ that _weak_.”

“ _But you_ are _weak_ -” Adachi had started to speak again, but there was a _noise_ , and a startled yelp, and when the detective spoke again, he sounded frightened and much less demanding. “ _S-s-sorry. If he’s so powerful, though, how d’ya expect me to do anything to him?_ ”

“ _He’s more powerful_ here _than he is_ there.” The silvery voice sounded annoyed. _“You had_ one _job, and you’ve failed so far. You certainly had no problems killing those women. Or are you such a_ coward _that you can’t kill one human boy?_ ”

“ **Don’t** _call me a coward! Besides, he’s always hanging out with those others_ -”

“ _So kill_ them, _too. I don’t care. In fact, it would be even better if you could kill both him_ and _his so-called twin_.” The unknown voice seemed to rally at this idea. “ _Yes, I would have so much power then that I could grant you_ … anything.”

“ _Anything?_ ” The greed in Adachi’s voice made Yu’s skin crawl. “ _Well, then. You got yourself a deal_.”

“ _Good. Just remember that if you fail again, I’ll kill you_.”

The playback ended there, and Yu - feeling sick - handed the headphones back to Shadow Yosuke. “That sonofabitch-”

Souji looked shaken, too. “Who’s that other voice? I…” He shook his head, as if desperately trying to clear it. “I know it, but I don’t know _why_. And why-” His voice grew small. “Why do they want to _kill_ me?”

Yu wrapped an arm around Souji, his expression fierce as he pulled his twin into a hug. “I don’t know and I don’t care. Nobody’s going to touch you, I swear.” He looked at Shadow Yosuke over Souji’s head. “Thank you.” He tried force as much gratitude as he could past the anger that choked his throat. “We need to get back, let everybody know.”

The shadow’s eyes widened briefly at his tone of voice, and he looked away. “...Yeah. Just don’t get yourselves killed, okay?”

If his voice was softer than it had ever been before, Yu was too keyed up to notice. Souji, however, looked back at the shadow, who gave him a single, unreadable glance before disappearing into the fog.

* * *

Yu left Souji to text the others, heading downstairs to double-lock the door; after a few minutes’ thought, he pushed the kitchen table in front of the door, as well. As his anger had a chance to cool, however, he realised that Adachi would, more than likely, still try to catch them unawares and make it look like an accident - and breaking into Dojima’s house was a lot more difficult than finding them somewhere remote, like on the floodplain. 

Still, he didn’t want to take a chance. They turned their TV face-down against the floor, so that no one could come through it. Then, knowing that Adachi was well aware which room was theirs, they moved the guest futon into Nanako’s room; it was the farthest bedroom from their own, and if Adachi _did_ come in the middle of the night, they’d hopefully hear him before he found them. 

The group was going to meet first thing in the morning at Junes - if nothing else, there was relative safety being in a crowd of people - and now, all the twins could do was wait. Souji, at least, was busy with his phone - Yosuke was as upset and angry as Yu was - so Yu got his katana and started to clean it, finding that re-wrapping the hilt at least gave him something to focus on. 

After a while, Souji’s quiet voice brought him out of his ever-circling thoughts. 

“Hey, Yu.”

He looked up from the weapon. “Souj? Everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I was just thinking, though. Yosuke’s shadow seems a lot different than he did the last time Yosuke and I ran into him.”

“Mmmm.” At least some of Yu’s thought had been about the shadow; after stretching, he nodded. “You think so, too? He’s been getting friendlier. He’s still not very honest with his feelings, though.”

Souji gave his brother an unreadable glance. “Oh?”

“Yeah.” Yu gave a dry laugh. “I would think we’d all had enough experience with that by now to recognize it.”

“Mmm. So… you’d say you’re pretty good at noticing it, then? I mean, somebody not being honest with their feelings?” Souji had both eyebrows raised now, but Yu couldn't figure out what he was trying to get at.

“Well, yeah? It’s kind of obvious.” A shrug. “Why?”

His brother looked at him for a long time; Yu was just about to ask what was wrong when he just gave an exasperated sigh, flopping back onto his futon.

“I’m just going to try to sleep. Good _night_ , Yu.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, of course. Get some rest. Night, Souj.”

_What the hell is up with him?_

* * *

Although Yu was angry with himself for falling asleep in the middle of the night, it passed safely; the twins hurried to Junes as soon as the food court opened, intending to get coffee and donuts there.

When they arrived, they found the rest of the team gathering, as well; Yosuke gave a gasp of relief when he saw Souji, running over to hug his boyfriend, tightly. Yu bought coffee for everyone - decaf for Teddie - and they all sat down to talk about the situation, keeping their voices low and their eyes open.

They came to the conclusion that the best course of action would be to find what evidence they could, keeping the twins out of the way until the police could arrest Adachi - Yu and Kanji seemed very dissatisfied by this, but Naoto pointed out that outside the TV, trained policemen would be much better at catching a potentially armed adult male, and besides, _he_ was a murderer, _they_ weren’t.

With that intent, Teddie checked the TV quickly to make sure it was safe - Naoto had already called the police department and been informed that the detective was on patrol, but it never hurt to be careful. Then, the group split up; Yu and Souji, along with Yosuke - who wouldn’t leave Souji’s side - went into the TV world, with Teddie to keep track of who came and went. Yu had to agree with Naoto’s reasoning; if the unknown voice said that Souji was stronger inside the TV, then the TV would be the best place for him. Naoto, meanwhile, took Kanji, Rise, Chie, and Yukiko to see Dojima, intending to tell him her suspicions and get his permission to access Adachi’s files. Yu was pretty sure that Naoto intended to search Adachi’s apartment with or without permission, but the detective’s approval would make things go much more smoothly.

* * *

When the group got to the shopping district, Yosuke was surprised to see his shadow standing at the entrance, and even more surprised to see the look of relief cross his face when they walked up, although the side-eyed glance he gave the brunette was more in line with what Yosuke had expected. 

_Well, nobody ever said this was going to be easy._

As sitting out in the open was probably not the best idea, they all went into the liquor store. When Yu sat down with Souji - he hadn’t wanted to let his twin go at all that morning, which the brunette didn’t blame him for in the least - Yosuke cleared his throat. 

“Hey.” 

His shadow - who’d been watching the twins as well, and doing his best to ignore Teddie - raised an eyebrow, but didn’t look at him. Yosuke grit his teeth and tried again.

“Uh, Yosuke?” 

_Holy crap it’s awkward talking to somebody with my face and my name_.

His shadow finally turned. “What.” He didn’t seem particularly eager to talk to Yosuke, but then he also didn’t seem like he wanted to jump down his throat this time, either, and when the brunette jerked his head to the side, the shadow nodded, following him. 

When they were a little ways away, Yosuke took a deep breath. “Hey. I just wanted to say I’m sorry for being rude earlier.” His shadow blinked at him; the brunette took the opportunity to follow up before he was met with any sarcastic responses. “And… thanks. For telling us about this. I mean it. I don’t know what I would have done if Adachi had gotten to Souji.”

He looked over at his boyfriend, not even trying to hide the concern on his face; the shadow rubbed his neck, also looking at the twins. There was silence, and then Shadow Yosuke muttered, “Eh. Yeah, no biggie. It’s the least I could do.”

For the first time, Yosuke found himself feeling sorry for his shadow. Crossing his arms - _it’s too cold in here!_ \- he frowned. “Yeah, uh… by the way. I’m sorry you’re stuck here. I know you don’t know what’s going on - _I_ don’t know what’s going on - but if you think there’s anything I can do about it, let me know.”

 _This_ got a reaction from his shadow, who looked at him with wide eyes; before he could respond, however, Teddie started shouting.

“Sensei! Sensei! I can smell Adachi!”

Everyone jumped to their feet, grabbing their weapons; it was a tense quarter of an hour that felt like an eternity before Teddie shook his head.

“He’s gone back to that creepy room.”

Yu and Yosuke looked at each other. The brunette had just opened his mouth to suggest that they leave - not wanting Souji to be in the same place as Adachi until they knew what was going on - when they heard running feet outside; everyone tensed again, but Teddie just let out a sigh of relief. 

“It’s the others!”

* * *

Yu found himself feeling more and more angry as Naoto told her story. They’d gone to Dojima; surprisingly enough, he hadn’t rejected their theories, as apparently there had been warning bells in his own mind, but he had dismissed them as an ‘old man’s paranoia’. He’d given Naoto permission to search Adachi’s files and apartment; she’d taken Kanji and Rise with her, and left Chie and Yukiko with the detective, just to be safe.

Luckily, now that Naoto knew what she was looking for, she was able to find more than enough evidence in Adachi’s personal files at the station; they’d just started for Adachi’s apartment when Yukiko called Rise, in a panic. Dojima - not wanting to believe that Adachi had _meant_ to kill anyone - had called his partner to the hospital, intending to talk him into surrendering peacefully; Adachi had panicked and attacked the detective. He hadn’t managed to hurt Dojima, thanks to Chie’s vicious reflexes (Yosuke, who’d been on the receiving end of such a kick more than once turned green, as his shadow watched, curiously). Still, Adachi had gotten away; they’d (rightly) assumed he’d fled into the TV, and had given chase.

By now, Yu was livid. “Let’s go.” He looked around. “We can’t let this asshole get away. There’s no telling when he’ll decide to come out - or where - and we’d never be able to convince the police that they’d need to be watching all the exits. Even if we could, there are hundreds of thousands of TVs!”

His brother took a deep breath. “I… we still don’t know what’s going on, so everybody needs to be careful. That being said, I don’t think we can wait. We know where he is; the smartest thing is to track him down now, before he’s had a chance to settle in.”

Everyone took a moment to regroup, checking supplies and weapons; Yu was just testing his katana to see what sort of TV-world improvements he could make to it when Shadow Yosuke, standing to the side, caught his eye. 

His face softening, he smiled, faintly. “Hey. Thanks for this. We couldn’t have done any of it without you.”

“Yeah.” The shadow didn’t seem to have anything else to say; Yu looked around and, seeing that everyone was ready to go, nodded again.

“All right. Well, I guess we’ll see you later.”

“Yeah. Don’t get yourself killed.”

Yu gave him a last nod, shouldering his katana; the group walked away, and the shadow watched them go, a lonely, frustrated look on his face.

* * *

In retrospect, it had probably been a bad idea to approach Adachi on his own grounds, but what else could they have done? 

The room itself was different; the creepy bedroom was merely an antechamber to a whole, twisted labyrinth. They’d no sooner stepped inside than the taunts started; Adachi had always been a smartass, and he knew just what to say to get under their skin - especially Naoto, Kanji, and Yu. 

They’d catch glimpses of him from time to time as they picked their way through the maze; he managed to lead them into more than one trap, and by the time they finally cornered him, the whole group was on edge and already feeling more than a little wear and tear. 

When they found him, they almost didn’t recognize him. Insanity burned in his eyes, and when he threw out his arm in a familiar pose, everyone tensed; when a persona that matched Souji’s Izanagi - only twisted and corrupt, shadow-touched - burst forth, Yu first felt _fear_. 

Still, there was no way he’d let anyone - especially not this rabid murderer - touch his brother. As Adachi launched into some sort of diatribe, Yu - losing his temper - launched a bolt of lightning at him. 

“Shut the fuck up, asshole!”

This had the dual effect of shutting the detective up _and_ pissing him off; Yu knew that Naoto might be angry later at not getting a chance to make Adachi confess, _but frankly, I don’t give a rat’s ass_.

Still, despite - or possibly because - of Adachi’s rage and insanity, the fight was the hardest one they’d ever faced. They were winning, but it felt to Yu like they were trying to roll a boulder up a mountain. _A boulder with claws and teeth and a really annoying voice_. By the time Adachi finally started to flag, none of them were uninjured. 

When it became evident that there was no way the detective was going to win, he slumped to the ground; dropping his head into his hands, he started to laugh frantically. The group looked at each other, unsure of what to do; Naoto and Yu nodded at one another, slowly approaching Adachi, their weapons still out, as the others took the chance to hurriedly help each other get to their feet. Yosuke, meanwhile, grabbed Souji’s arm and dragged him as far away from Adachi as he could.

It was a feint. No sooner had Yosuke taken Souji aside than the detective - who’d been watching through his fingers - threw his head back, laughing maniacally; his persona sprang forth, barreling towards the two boys, now separated from the others. Yu screamed Souji’s name; Yosuke turned just in time to see the persona flying towards them. 

It only took a split second, but the brunette managed to shove Souji out of the way. That left Yosuke open, however; he’d just closed his eyes, knowing he had no time even to brace himself, when there was a flash, and the sound of clashing metal. When he opened his eyes, he saw the back of his shadow, standing between him and the persona. The shadow was holding a crossed pair of wickedly-sharp kunai, between which he’d caught Shadow Izanagi’s naginata; with a massive heave, he threw the persona back. 

As it staggered, Shadow Yosuke screamed “Fuck _off!_ ”; with those words, a powerful column of wind tore into the persona, ripping it to shreds. 

Yu only waited to see Souji and Yosuke safe before running for Adachi, who was kneeling, looking shell-shocked; he was about to run the detective through with his katana when Naoto grabbed his arm, jerking him back. “Don’t, Yu!”

He growled at her, but he hadn’t lost himself - not like before, with Nanako - so he just brought the hilt down onto Adachi’s head, knocking him out cold. When the detective slumped to the ground, Yu felt all of the energy and anger drain out of him, and he fell to his knees, exhausted.

* * *

Healing took precedent as soon as Adachi was finally down; once Yu finally had enough energy to get to his feet again, his first order of business was to make sure Souji was okay. He found Yosuke and his twin taking care of each other’s wounds; Shadow Yosuke, however, was nowhere to be found. Yu frowned, but before he could do anything about it, the others were surrounding them.

“It _bothers_ me.” Naoto sighed as Rise put bandages on a burn on the detective’s arm. “That his persona looked like Souji-senpai’s, I mean. Add that to all this talk about _her_ \- whoever _she_ is - being weak when senpai is strong, and then the mention of the fog failing _twice_ …” She looked at Adachi. “We solved the murders, but we’re far from the bottom of this case.”

“ _Naoto_.” Rise pulled the girl’s hat down over her eyes. “Can we talk about this _not here?_ ”

Souji looked up, having pulled Yosuke to his feet. “She’s right. We need to get Adachi to the police as soon as possible, and I want to check on my uncle.”

Giving Rise a _look_ , Naoto sighed. “Okay, okay, you’re right.”

They headed for the exit - Adachi slung over Kanji’s shoulder - but as they reached the TV, Yu’s feet slowed. “Guys. Go on ahead, ok?”

They all gave him strange looks, but no one argued. Souji and Yosuke nodded with knowing expressions; Yosuke cleared his throat. 

“Hey, bro, if you see him, tell him I said thanks. I’ll come back later, if he wants me to, I just need to make sure Souji gets home safe.”

Yu nodded. “Yeah, and thanks.”

* * *

When Yu stepped into the liquor store, the first thing he heard was ragged sobbing. Heart in his throat, he followed the noise; Shadow Yosuke was sitting behind the tall stacks of sake barrels, curled up with his knees against his chest and his head against them, crying. 

The sight smote Yu, who dropped to his knees beside the shadow. “What’s wrong?” 

“I can't- I don’t _know_.” Shadow Yosuke raised his face; the pain in his eyes was so strong that Yu didn’t even stop to think, he just reached out, putting his arms around the shadow’s shoulders; the shadow hesitated for a moment, but then let himself be pulled into an awkward hug, face buried in Yu’s shoulder. 

As Shadow Yosuke cried in his arms, shoulders shaking, Yu finally realised how much he _cared_ for the shadowy brunette. The depth of his emotions left him breathless, but they scared him, and he knew that right now was not the time. Exhaling shakily, he patted the shadow on the back.

“Hey.” His voice was quiet, gentle. “You were awesome. Yosuke wanted me to tell you thanks, and that he’ll come visit you, if you want him to. But… why don’t you come with us? Come outside, I mean? Surely you can leave now!”

The thought warmed Yu’s heart, and he found himself growing excited - excited enough not to notice when the shadow went stiff in his arms. “You’re yourself now, part of the group! The others will be excited, too, and-”

Suddenly, Shadow Yosuke shoved him, hard enough that Yu overbalanced and fell backwards; the silver-haired boy couldn’t hide his stunned expression. The shadow’s face was twisted in despair and desolation. 

“ _Shut up!_ Don’t act like you _know_ me! You… you say so much shit and none of it _means_ anything, don’t look at me, just… _go away!_ ”

It was so sudden, and so unexpected, Yu didn’t know what to do; before he could say anything, the shadow disappeared, leaving Yu alone in the liquor store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **tamagoyaki** \- sweet rolled eggs  
>  **naginata** \- long polearm with a curved, sword-like blade


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 8 of What Came from the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dunnnnnn

Yu went home that night with a worried feeling in his stomach, but he was so exhausted that he _couldn’t_ think about it. Everyone was, really. The police took Adachi, now awake and raving; the group went home, meaning to meet the next day. Yosuke came home with Yu and Souji, helping them clean up from their impromptu vigil the night before; he stayed the night, sharing Souji’s bunk, but everyone was so exhausted that they crashed hard.

The next morning, Yu woke, wondering why he felt vaguely apprehensive; it took a few moments, but the events from the day before - particularly the liquor store after the fight - came back to him, and he frowned, burrowing into his blankets.

 _I love Yosuke’s shadow, and he’s mad at me, or I hurt him somehow_. A wince. _I don’t know what I did! I guess_ … sighing, he pulled his pillow over his head. _I really was being pushy, telling him to come out of the TV world with me. Especially given everything that happened. He was probably still trying to figure himself out, I mean… I never would have expected him to show up and save Yosuke like that. I’m glad he did, though_. He couldn’t stop a soft smile from flickering across his lips, although it was soon gone. 

_So… what do I do? I’ll apologize, of course. I’ll see what I can do to help him figure stuff out. I don’t… do I tell him? Should I tell him? Ugh, I don’t_ know. _And what happens if he does want to stay in the TV? Or_ … a sick feeling flooded his stomach. _What if his bad relationship with Yosuke_ was _what was holding him back? What if he’s already… gone back? Turned back?_

It took everything he had to keep from jumping out of bed and running for Junes, or just saying “to hell with it” and going in through their bedroom TV. _Stop, Yu. Think! That can’t be right. Why would he have shown up in the first place if it was just that he hated Yosuke? No, that doesn’t make sense_.

The anxious feeling ebbed, but not completely. Souji and Yosuke were still asleep, but Yu found himself too keyed up to go back to bed; he got dressed and headed downstairs, digging through the fridge before pulling out some eggs to make breakfast.

When the others came down about an hour later, Yu was sitting at the table, having just finished eating. “Morning. Want me to fix something for you guys?”

His brother eyed him, then the remains on his plate, which were suspiciously _red_. “No thank you, I like _tasting_ my breakfast, I’ll cook.”

Yu made a face at him, but it was a mild one - they had this discussion nearly every time it came to cooking, and it made him feel a little more comfortable, that things were going back to normal. He drank another cup of coffee while Yosuke and Souji ate breakfast; the three talked about the day before, and eventually, Yu brought up what happened in the liquor store, afterwards. Souji frowned, looking concerned, but Yosuke just winced.

“Ugh, poor guy. I wonder what's wrong?” 

Yu was glad to see that Yosuke seemed to have gotten over his annoyance with his shadow, but it didn’t help shed any light on the problem, and he shrugged. “I just don’t know.”

“You gonna go back in today?”

Staring down at his coffee mug, Yu shook his head. “Not today. I think he probably needs a little time. I don’t know if I made him mad, or what happened, but when he he yelled at me it didn’t sound like he wanted me to ignore that and try to comfort him. I’m gonna try to respect that.” He sighed, and when he looked up, he saw Souji watching him, sympathetically. 

_Of_ course _he’s already figured out that I like Yosuke's shadow. Heck, he probably figured it out before I did_.

* * *

Rise and Teddie checked out the TV world, but were unable to find any signs of the mysterious silvery-voiced woman that had been giving Adachi orders. The detective himself seemed to have completely snapped; Dojima reported that he just sat in his cell all day, every day, and refused to talk to anyone but himself. 

Yu gave it a few days before going back to the TV-world shopping district. When he did, he couldn’t sense anyone; feeling discouraged, he went home, only to return the next time he had a chance. The thought that the shadow might be _gone_ continued to haunt him, but he managed to explain it away - at least for a while. After all, his sensing had always been tenuous at best, and Shadow Yosuke could probably hide himself if he really wanted to. The fog inside was worse, too, and he was sure that didn’t help. 

He gave it close to two weeks before finally letting himself panic. He spent an entire afternoon searching every building and side alley of the shadowy shopping district; no luck. Heart in his throat, he even used his shadow abilities to visit a handful of the other locations - heaven, the base, and a few others - without finding anything.

 _I’d give anything to hear him snark “ugh_ , whatever _” at me again_.

Heart heavy, he dragged himself home. Yosuke was visiting again - Dojima and Nanako were back from the hospital, but Nanako was in bed, and their uncle was working late again - so it was just the three of them; when Yu walked in, Souji immediately put his cup of tea down on the table, hurrying over to his twin’s side.

“Yu, what’s _wrong?_ ”

Pushing the backs of his fingers against his eyes to keep the tears at bay, Yu shook his head. “I still can’t _find_ Shadow Yosuke. I think… I think he’s _gone_.”

Frowning, his his brother put an arm around his shoulders; Yosuke, who was sitting at the table with a worried expression, looked startled.

“Huh? He’s fine. I saw him yesterday.”

Yu looked at the brunette in shock. “He- you _what?_ ” 

Looking uncomfortable, Yosuke rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. I mean, I went in a couple of days after you told us he was so upset. He never told me what was going on, but we actually talked, and while he won’t let me come back in - says I’m too stupid to not get hurt in there, and he’s probably right - he shows up at my TV every day or two and we talk just inside.”

“Oh. I- I see.” The first rush of _thank god he didn’t go_ ebbed, and Yu wasn’t sure how to feel. _Sure, I’m glad he and Yosuke are talking, but_ …

Yosuke was watching his friend’s face with a concerned expression. “I’m sorry, bro. I mean… I know he said that he didn’t want to see you, but I thought he’d told you that himself. After the first day, I mean.”

 _He… doesn’t want to see me?_ Unable to fully process the thought, Yu looked down at his hands. “No. I… haven’t seen him since the day we fought Adachi.” His voice was faint, and Souji tightened the arm around his shoulders, pushing him into a chair. 

The brunette looked stricken. “God, Yu, I’m _so sorry_ , I had no idea… _dammit_ , next time Yasu shows up, I’m going to-”

Yu looked up. “Yasu?”

“Yeah- oh.” Yosuke flushed. “Sorry. It was really weird trying to refer to him by my name, so I asked him what he wanted to be called. It took him a few visits, but he decided on Yasu.” A shrug. “He liked it, so I didn’t ask why.”

Sinking his head into his hands, Yu just gave a short laugh. _I never once thought that he might want to be called something other than “Shadow Yosuke” or “the shadow”. My god I’m an asshole_.

The other two watched him for a moment before Souji gently asked if he wanted a cup of tea; Yu - feeling more and more like he just needed to be _alone_ \- shook his head.

“I- I’m just going to get a shower. I… think I’m gonna head to bed early. I’m sorry.”

“Nah, bro. I’m the one who should be apologizing-” Yosuke looked upset, but Yu just patted his shoulder.

“No, Yosuke, I’m just glad you and Sha- _Yasu_ \- are talking. I know he was lonely.” It was all Yu could do not to start crying, then and there. “Just… be good to him, please.” 

The last words came out in a strangled sob and he fled upstairs; shutting himself in the bathroom, he stood in the shower, finally allowing himself to cry. Everything hurt. Even as he pushed the thought of the shadow - _Yasu, I’ve got to remember that_ \- out of his mind, more memories took its place; it wasn’t until the water started to run cold that he finally forced himself to dry off and go to his room. 

He could hear Souji moving around downstairs; looking out the window, he saw that Yosuke’s scooter was gone, so his brother was probably doing the dishes. Yu felt guilty, like he should be downstairs helping, but he knew that in his current state, he’d just be a liability, and probably break half their uncle’s plates. He felt guilty, but he knew Souji understood.

Curling up on his bunk, he tried to sleep - praying for at least an hour or two of oblivion so that he could stop _thinking_ \- but his mind wouldn’t stop. He kept revisiting that last day, wondering just what it was that he’d done - _what was the last straw?_ \- but all he could do was remember more and more things to feel ashamed about throughout their acquaintance. _I wanted to call it a friendship, but all I did was impose on him_.

Some time later, the bedroom door opened; Yu could see Souji’s silhouette stretch across the floor. 

“Yu?”

“I’m here.” The words came out in a raspy voice that sounded as if he hadn’t spoken in a week - or as if he’d been crying for hours. Souji left the door open, using the light from the hallway to find the lamp on the table, then turned it on and closed the door. Walking over, he sat down on the edge of the bed. 

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” He rested a hand, very gently, over Yu’s; his brother just winced, putting his other hand over his face.

“Yeah. Now that it doesn’t matter, I _am_.”

“It always matters.” Souji put an arm out; Yu sat up, shakily, and threw his arms around his brother, burying his face in his shoulder as he started to cry. 

His twin never once said anything; he just hugged him tightly, rubbing his back as he let Yu cry for as long as he needed to. Eventually, Yu fell asleep - exhausted and wrung out - on Souji’s shoulder; Souji just kicked off his shoes and curled up, and they slept like that all night.

* * *

Yu went back a few times each week after that, still hoping that maybe - _maybe_ \- Yasu would have forgiven him; he never went too far into the shopping district, trying to respect the shadow’s space, and although once or twice he _thought_ he sensed someone, no one ever came out to meet him. 

As time passed, Yu grew quieter, to the point that people started mistaking him for his brother. He was still in drama, but Yumi was unhappy with his inability to get into the roles any more; he moved into the costuming group, and if it didn’t make him happy, it at least gave him something to do. He still played soccer - it was one of the few times he was able to lose himself - and even Daisuke commented on how much his game had improved, but although he felt a fleeting sense of pride, it didn’t raise his spirits.

Valentine’s Day came and went, and Yu was inundated - with Souji off the market, Yu was the #1 bachelor in school. His brother and Yosuke watched as he just refused each confession with a gentle, “Thank you, but I can’t”; his small, sad smile hurt their hearts.

* * *

The next day, after school, Yu was getting ready to head home when Yosuke grabbed his sleeve. 

“Yu. Mind heading to the river with me? I wanna talk.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Yu simply nodded. Following the brunette off the school grounds, neither talked much until they got to the riverbank; Yosuke plopped down, patting the step beside him, and Yu took a seat.

“Hey.” Yosuke’s voice, when he finally started to speak, was quiet. “I know you really don’t want to hear me talk about Yasu-” Yu winced at the name “-but I really felt like it was important to tell you that I don’t think he _hates_ you. I don’t know all of the reasons why he won’t talk to you, but… I just… I asked, you know? And he said ‘not yet’. That’s not never, right?”

“Yeah.” The words didn’t really do much to help Yu’s aching heart - he’d spent so long going over all the things he’d done _wrong_ that by this point he couldn’t imagine Yasu ever wanting to talk to him again - but the fact that Yosuke cared enough to bring it up brought a watery smile to his face. “Yeah. I understand. Thanks. It still hurts, but… I appreciate it.”

The brunette chewed on his lip, watching his friend with a concerned expression. “I know it’s probably the least helpful thing to hear in the world, but just… give it time.”

Yu exhaled. “...I’ll try. Thanks, Yosuke.” 

“Of course, bro.” Standing, the brunette patted his shoulder. “I’m gonna head; Souji and I were talking about getting Aiya’s. You want to come?”

“Eh.” Yu looked out over the river, then stood, shrugging. “Sure.”

* * *

The following day was Sunday; Yu had been awake most of the night before, thinking, and when the sun finally rose, he got up quietly, getting dressed and leaving his brother a note. Heading for Junes, he got there just after the regular departments opened; slipping into their usual TV, he headed for the shopping district.

As expected, Yasu was nowhere to be seen, but Yu hadn’t come to find him - not exactly. Taking a seat on the concrete mounds in the playground, where he and Yasu had spent the most time together, he crossed his legs beneath him. Staring down at the ground for a while, he tried to organize his thoughts; finally, he started to speak. 

“Yasu, I- it’s Yu. I’ve just… I came to say I’m sorry. I've been horrible. I’ve been so selfish. I never thought about things like giving you a name or identity, I just thought about myself, how it made me feel good to ‘help you’ by ‘talking things out’. God, I remember how annoyed you were whenever I’d answer your questions with other questions, like I was fucking Socrates or something; I must have sounded like _such_ a tool.”

Pausing, he rubbed his face. He’d been thinking these things for over a month, but saying them… _saying them makes them feel so much more real_. Still, he’d come this far.

“Every time I came here, I prided myself that you needed me, that I was doing you a favour; in reality, _I_ was the one who needed _you_ as much or more than I wanted _you_ to need _me_. I wanted us to be friends, but somewhere along the way I fell… in love with you. I lied at Christmas, you know? Maybe I didn’t realise it, but I did. I came to see you that night because I wanted to _see you_ , not because I was bored. _Ugh_.”

It wasn’t working. No matter how much he’d psyched himself up, no matter how hard he bit his lip, he couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks. Taking a deep, shuddering sigh, he looked up at the fake, leaden sky.

“That last day, when you were hurt - I didn't think about how to help you. You were hurting, but I just spouted crap that fit what _I_ wanted to happen, I didn't stop to think about what was holding you back. I never realised that I’d never actually asked you what you wanted, I just assumed. It was selfish of me to assume you’d even want to come out of the TV with us; you’d always talked about returning to the drifting fog, and I should... have tried to help. Even if I didn’t want you to go-” He had to stop and stifle a sob before wiping his eyes. “I didn’t want you to go but that was no reason to ignore what you wanted.”

Reaching into his jacket pocket, he grabbed a folded up napkin from dinner the night before. For a while, he was quiet; each time he tried to wipe his tears away, he just ended up crying more. Finally, however, he forced himself to take another deep breath. 

“I'm really glad you're getting closer to Yosuke. He's a good guy and he'll help you. I know he will.” Looking down at his hands with a wry smile, he shrugged. “Heh, I don’t even know if you can hear me, maybe I’m just talking to the fog, but I needed to at least try.” He stood up, dusting off his pants; turning, he looked back at the liquor store, although he didn’t expect to see anything.

“I'm not going to come back. I miss you so much, but I was selfish to keep imposing myself on you without respecting your personal space. But if you ever want to talk again, just tell Yosuke, I'll always - _always_ \- be glad to hear from you again.”

As he said these last words, he started walking towards the entrance of the district. Reaching the edge, he turned back; this time, he didn’t even try to stop the tears.

“...Goodbye, Yasu.”

* * *

Hands in his pockets, Yu started back. Lost in thought, he wasn’t paying much attention; it wasn’t like he hadn’t been through the area hundreds of times. He was almost in sight of the entrance to the TV world when he heard running feet behind him.

... _is it? It can’t be_ -

He couldn’t stop his heart from lifting, though, couldn’t stop the expression of hope that spread across his face as he started to turn. “Yasu-?”

Pain blossomed through his skull as something hit him, _hard_ , on the back of the head; the last thing he saw as he crumpled to the ground was a disheveled suit and stained burgundy tie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Yu realises that I actually cried as I wrote this stupid chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 9 of What Came from the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will likely be one more chapter.

When Yu woke, the first thing he was conscious of was how _badly_ his head hurt. Groaning, he tried to sit up; it was then that he realized that his hands were bound behind his back. His feet were free, but as he was lying on the ground, it was a struggle to even get into a sitting position, especially given how his head throbbed with each movement he made. He couldn’t help but groan; when he did, he heard a silvery voice chuckle, somewhere in front of him. It was not a nice sound, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. 

For the first few moments, he couldn’t see anything; the ground seemed to be geometric patterns of red and black, but he could only see a foot or two in front of his face, the room was so foggy. It was _that_ sort of fog, the kind that made his head swim and his anger pulse; he was momentarily grateful for the blow he’d received, as it made his mind too fuzzy and fogged for the anger to actually take root. 

The owner of the voice finally came into view. His eyes widened when he saw her, a woman in white who glided across the ground as if she were floating, not walking; everything about her screamed _this is not human_ , but she also wasn’t a shadow. Yu felt his skin crawl; just being near her struck terror into his very bones. 

At her side stood Adachi; Yu’s eyes narrowed, but on closer look he realized that the detective’s eyes were golden; _his shadow_. Something they had never even thought about.

His reactions seemed to amuse the woman. “Look at you, trying to hide your fear. Of course you’re afraid; you’re nothing but a shadow of a copy and I… I am a _god_.” She laughed; as with earlier, however, there was no mirth in the sound. “So pathetic, but so much trouble! You couldn’t even do your job correctly, and kill your host; you failed _twice_ , and the only reason I haven’t killed you yet is because I need you here to bring _him_ to me. At least this way I will have my revenge on both of you; when I kill you _both_ , I will finally be rid of _him_ for good, free of this cursed wheel of fate, and mistress again of my own powers. Too long have I waned, too long have I suffered and dwindled, and all because of _him!_ ”

None of this made any sense to Yu, and he suspected that it wasn’t just because his head hurt. “Who _are_ you?” 

“Who am I?” Her eyes flashed red, and she seemed insulted. “I am _Izanami_. Once, my name was known throughout this realm and the next; but with each time that _he_ returns, I lose more! Once, my power extended across this whole world; now, thanks to _him_ , I am confined to this, my tomb and sepulcher. I am forced to use imperfect tools to complete my work - like you.”

She looked at Yu, but next to her, Adachi’s shadow raised his head; his eyes were glassy, and he looked drugged - or controlled. As Yu’s gaze shifted, so did Izanami’s; looking annoyed, she snapped her fingers. “I don’t need you right now. Go back to whence you came, and enjoy the punishments that await you in your world; I _could_ kill you, but somehow, I think you'll like this even less.”

The shadow’s eyes widened, and he writhed; it looked painful, and Yu winced, turning away as the shadow elongated, twisted, and then just… disappeared. Fear gripped him, and Izanami laughed again.

 _Izanami… why do I know that name… **oh shit**_. He remembered the lectures they’d had in class that year - when they were away on the class trip, to be exact. _Izanagi and Izanami, the creation myth_. He was no Naoto, but he didn’t need to be to see the connections - Izanami’s intent to kill Souji, Souji’s persona, Izanagi. _How is that_ real?

Clearly, the goddess could read his thoughts; she scowled, looking annoyed. “I am no myth! It’s shameful that I’ve fallen so low, it’s _his_ fault that we’re stuck in this eternal cycle; I can no longer reach the outside world myself, so I have to resort to fog and trickery. Every time he returns, I send my fog to destroy him; it's not enough, as it never destroys the shadow, but it's all I have. Every time he dies, I lose power, though I am not as weak as I am when he is here, for as he grows stronger, I grow weaker.” Her eyes blazed. “No more! It ends, here and now! It was a blessing in disguise that you failed; now I have you _both_ , and can be completely rid of him, _forever_.”

Yu felt sick. It was one thing to know that he’d been born to destroy the person who meant the most to him in the world; he’d failed, at least, and could take some pride in that. But now he was caught, a rat in a trap, and somehow she was going to use him to lure Souji. He had to do something. 

He had the brief flash of idea that he needed to stall for time; he did his best to keep it from his conscious thoughts as he shook his head, looking up. “That makes no sense. _You_ make no sense. None of this makes sense! How is the Midnight Channel even connected to any of this? And Adachi?”

Izanami smiled, and he felt a flash of worry. For a few moments, she watched him; finally, she shrugged, sounding bored. 

“The “Midnight Channel,” as you call it, was merely the means to an end. I used it to call someone to me, someone weak and corrupt who could be twisted and bought with promises. It was a gamble, but one I had to take; _he_ had been gone from my range for too long, and now that he’d returned, I had to move, had to destroy him _now_. That fool-” Her expression darkened, and Yu knew she was talking about Adachi. “I gave him too much power; instead of using it to do what he was told - it would have been _so_ much easier if he’d just killed you both from the start - he used it to pursue his own means. That was my fault, I left him too much room, and he was already rotten. He was more interested in alleviating his own boredom.”

She clenched her fists, but then exhaled, allowing the mask to drop across her features once more. “When he failed, I tried the fog again; but you were surprisingly difficult, and yet again, _he_ managed to overcome it, as he did the first time.” Her eyes narrowed. “I won’t make that mistake again. I could control you - you have _no idea_ how powerful I am in this, my private realm - but that leaves the risk of you being turned against me. No, I’ll kill you and _him_ \- your “twin” - together. And all your pathetic friends, once they all arrive.”

Yu snarled at this. His head was foggy, everything hurt, but he wasn’t going to let _anybody_ touch Souji. “Like hell. Just get it over with and kill _me_ ; I won’t _ever_ let you harm him.”

“Oh?” She laughed again, a silvery, bell-like tone that sent echoes of pain through his skull. “Oh, no. You see, he already knows you’re in trouble, do you really think he’s going to stay away? I know you think you’ve been stalling, hoping to think of a way to get out without my ‘enacting my plan’; what you never realized was that the plan was already enacted. In fact-”

She paused, and they both heard the sounds of running feet; it was too foggy for Yu to tell who it was, but he already _knew_ , and Izanami smirked even as his stomach plummeted. “Oh, how nice. Here they come, lambs to the slaughter.”

“ _Souji!_ ” Yu ignored the searing pain in his head as he screamed his brother’s name. “Get out of here! It’s a trap!” 

“Of _course_ it is!” His brother ran in, followed by the others; there was too much fog to see the whole group, but he saw flashes of colour - Yukiko’s red, Chie’s green, Naoto’s blue - and Yosuke, of course, was at Souji’s side. “As if I’d leave you behind! _Now!_ ”

Everyone shouted at once, and all hell broke loose; the room was filled with personas and persona attacks, and it was enough even to take Izanami by surprise, as Souji’s Izanagi caught her with the end of his naginata, sending her flying backwards. Yosuke took the opportunity to dash forward, grabbing Yu; helping him to his feet, he dragged him backwards as he used his kunai to slice through his wrist bindings. 

“Are you ok?” The brunette’s eyes were wide with concern and he looked winded, but uninjured; Yu started to shake his head, but the movement jarred his skull and he winced, putting a hand up to his head. 

“Adachi’s shadow… knocked me out…”

“That _asshole_.” Yosuke looked angry. “Hang on.” 

He held a hand out, and Susano-o appeared as blessed healing spread through Yu’s body; his head finally cleared, he took a deep breath, holding out his hand as he started to will his katana into being. “Thanks, bro, I-”

“ _ **You will all die!**_ ”

The rubble into which Izanami had been tossed suddenly exploded outwards; Yu ducked, pulling Yosuke down to avoid flying debris, and when they looked up, Izanami was floating before them - but she was no longer a woman in white. She was a grotesque, skeletal monstrosity that oozed darkness; Yu couldn’t count the number of arms she bore, and she was five times taller than any of them, at _least_ , and maybe more. Yu couldn’t see his friends’ faces - only Souji, Yosuke, and now Kanji were close enough to not be completely hidden by the fog - but he heard enough shocked inhales and gasps that he could well imagine their expressions.

Yu, at least, was terrified.

He had good cause to be. If the fight with Adachi was a long, slow battle of attrition, Izanami was a whirlwind, bent on destroying them all from the very beginning. In the fog, she was ten times more powerful than any of them - even Souji, it seemed; in the fog, they could not see one another, could not coordinate, and every attack was a gamble because they were at much at risk of hitting their teammates as they were Izanami. Yu felt his whole body grow cold. _I have to do something, or she’s going to kill Souji. Yosuke. The others_. They were already falling; with each moment he heard more screams of pain, or shouts of “No!” followed by the name of one of his friends.

Suddenly, he had an idea. It was barely a thought, a feeling, but it was more than he'd had before.

“ _Izanagi!_ ” Yu shouted for his brother’s persona; it floated towards him, and he squared his shoulders. “Work with me, I don't know what I'm doing, but I have to do _something_ …” Putting a hand out, he touched his palm to the persona’s; drawing on all of his powers as a shadow, he willed his idea to _succeed_. 

Suddenly, his field of vision was widening, his perspective was shifting; thoughts not his own buzzed through his brain like electrical currents. All of this was eclipsed, however, by the sheer _power_ he felt welling up within him. With a thought, he knew what to do, knew what he was; he looked down at the misshapen demon queen before him - with a vague wonder that she was now _so small_ \- and spoke. 

“Izanami-no-Mikoto.” His voice was grave, and echoing.

The goddess seemed to grow; for a moment it was the two of them, face to face. Somewhere, behind the the bone and rot, her face held traces of the woman she once was; somewhere, behind the robotic visage, were traces of the man he once had been. 

“And so you finally face me, Izanagi-no-Okami, for the first time since the curse. Yourself, and not your pathetic copies.” Her voice was cold, angry, but it held a note of fear.

Yu - _Izanagi_ \- lowered his head for a moment. “I am sorry, Izanami, for all that you have suffered. It is finally over; be at peace.” Raising his shining sword with one bright arm, clad in white, he took a final look - the goddess had frozen, as if she was terrified to move - and then, taking the sword with both hands, he brought the weapon down with a single, decisive blow. There was a blinding flash - he heard a cacophony of screams mixed with the howling of wind and the shouts of his comrades - and suddenly Yu felt himself separating from the persona. 

But something was _wrong_. It wasn’t working, and even as he staggered he felt his energy drain; already so weak, _too_ weak, he felt himself fading. Looking down at his hands, he saw them flicker, like bad television reception; each time that they did, Izanagi - the persona, now standing behind Souji - flashed white. He felt himself drifting, like a dream; he could hear his friends’ voices, and they sounded as if they were far away, coming to him through an ocean, but a single, familiar voice broke through the depths.

“What the hell are you doing, are you _stupid?_ "

It was a voice he’d wanted to hear for so long, but… that voice was gone, wasn’t it? Maybe _he_ \- Yu - was gone, now, too. _If I give in, will I see him again?_

“Oh my god, you _are_ stupid. _Ugh!_ ”

Yu continued to drift, feeling more and more numb. It was a strange feeling, as if he were unravelling from the inside out; his thoughts began to haze over, but suddenly he felt someone grab his shirt, and then he felt a pair of lips cover his, and everything was _real_ again. His eyes flew open; a boy with black hair and unfamiliar clothing was _kissing_ him, and Yu froze, but before he could panic the boy’s eyes opened and at the first gleam of gold Yu suddenly realised that it was Yasu. It was _Yasu_ , and he was _kissing Yu_ , and suddenly Yu found himself caring about _everything_ again, very strongly.

When the kiss ended, Yu put his hand to his mouth with a sob of relief; he staggered backwards - still weak from the fusion - and Yasu grabbed him before his legs could go out from underneath him. Yu stared at the black-haired boy, not able to believe that he was really _there_.

“I thought… I thought you _hated_ me!” 

Yasu blinked at this, then scowled, even as he tightened his arm around Yu’s waist. “Don’t be _stupid_. I had some shit I had to figure out, okay? I just didn’t realise you were going to try to get yourself killed as some sort of _stupid_ revenge!” 

Yu made a sound that was half-laugh, half-hiccupped sob, and clung to Yasu’s arm. “Oh my god, I _missed_ you so much…”

At this, Yasu winced. “Sorry,” he muttered. “It’s just too easy to lose track of time here, you know? I didn’t realize how long it had been.”

Yasu hadn’t let go of Yu yet, and Yu was more than glad to take advantage of his weak knees to hang onto the shadow's arm. When he finally remembered, however, that it wasn’t just the two of them, he looked up to find everybody surrounding them with various grins and smirks on their faces. Yu and Yasu both turned red, but as soon as Yu looked at Souji, his brother rushed forward, throwing his arms around his twin. 

“Oh, god, Yu… I thought I’d lost you - again.”

Yasu let go of Yu - with an expression that Yu hoped was reluctance - and Yu embraced his twin. “Nah, Souj, you know it would take more than that to kill me.” He gave a short, if pained, laugh; no matter how much he might try to play it off, he’d almost _disappeared_ , and they both knew it. 

But now, Izanami was gone. He was as certain of that as he was that he was standing there. Alive. 

As he thought this, the fog - which had already been dissipating - cleared; they could see the room in which they stood, but more importantly, they could all see a shining figure floating in the middle of the room. Souji looked startled, as if he heard something that no one else could; carefully handing Yu back to Yasu, he walked towards the figure. Yosuke - who’d been hovering nearby - started to go with him; with an almost dream-like expression on his face, Souji shook his head, gently putting his hand on Yosuke’s arm. 

“I’ll be okay. Just wait a moment.”

Everyone watched as Souji approached the figure; the two stood there for a time, as the group grew more and more anxious, but then suddenly the figure bowed, and disappeared, fading into a flash so bright that everyone had to close their eyes. When they opened them again, they were dumbstruck; they were no longer standing in an ancient tomb, but instead a bright meadow, a perfect paradise with a bright blue sky, fluffy clouds, and breathtaking scenery as far as the eye could see. Smiling, Souji walked back to the group.

“What- what was _that?_ ” Yosuke looked dumbfounded. 

“It - whatever it was, Izanagi or Izanami, I don’t know - told me that ‘all of the power was now mine.’ I told it that I didn’t _want_ power, I just wanted to be free to live.” A smile at Yosuke. “And love.” 

The brunette blushed, and Yasu made a _noise_ that sounded like he was about to _say_ something, but Yu looked at him, and Yasu gave a small smile and looked away; Naoto - who’d been standing between Kanji and Rise - walked up. 

“And so the power you refused went into this world. We have no way of knowing, but I’ll bet that this is what it looked like originally, before it became the TV world we once knew.”

“It-” Teddie was standing beside Rise, staring up at the sky; Yu had thought he was just enraptured, but there were tears in the bear’s eyes. “Nao-chan’s right. This is how it used to be. I _remember!_ ” 

Naoto - looking satisfied - nodded. “Then that’s one mystery solved. But Yu-senpai… what happened?”

In as few words as he could, Yu told them what Izanami had told him; when he was done, the detective sighed. “Ugh. I failed horribly.”

“Are you kidding?” Yu shook his head. “You got us this far, Naoto. Not to mention, you guys saved me.” He looked around the group. “How did you know, anyway?”

Yosuke nodded at Yasu, who looked embarrassed. “I was asleep, but suddenly Teddie was shaking me awake, saying that ‘somebody was at the TV’; it was Yasu, who was so upset he was about to have a panic attack. He told us that ‘that asshole’s shadow’ had attacked you, and I called Souji, and we got the group together and went in after you.”

Yu looked back at Yasu, who was looking away, muttering something; softly, the silver-haired boy smiled. “Thanks.”

“Eh.” Yasu wouldn’t meet his eyes, but he didn’t look unhappy. 

Now that Yu was _looking_ at Yasu - and not just in the first flush of _oh my god he’s here he doesn’t hate me and he_ kissed _me_ \- he realized just how different the shadow looked. His hair - now black, not copper - was shorter than Yosuke’s, and instead of the Yasogami high uniform he’d worn from the beginning, he was dressed in a sleeveless crimson-and-gold basketball jersey with black jeans and sneakers that matched the shirt. His ears were pierced - a silver stud and silver loop in each lobe and a cuff on the upper edge of his right ear - and he had a silver ring on his left thumb. He still wore headphones, but they were silver where Yosuke’s were orange.

“Uh.” Yu found himself turning red. “You, uh. Look different.”

Yasu looked up quickly, a flash of worry in his eyes; Yu’s face must have reassured him, though, because he nodded. “Yeah, uh.” He looked over at Yosuke, who grinned. 

“Yeah. We spent a long time looking through magazines until he found stuff he liked.”

“You wouldn’t show me any pictures of yourself with normal hair, though. I had to experiment!” 

“That’s because I don’t _have_ any pictures!” Yosuke huffed. “I’ve had copper hair forever!”

Everybody laughed, and Yu hesitantly touched a strand of Yasu’s hair. “You can change this sort of thing?”

The shadow shrugged, looking a little self-conscious. “The clothes and stuff were easy, it’s like when you make your katana. The hair was harder, I guess ‘cause it’s part of me. I don’t think it’ll change back, though, unless I try really hard.” He looked up. “It looks okay?”

Yu gave a shaky laugh. “More than okay. You look… really good. I like the ear piercings.”

Yosuke laughed. “Yeah, he saw those and really liked them. The clothes went through a lot of different versions, but he never changed the earrings.”

“The cuff looks really good,” Souji offered. Yosuke shot him a look when he said this, but Yu was still focused on Yasu.

* * *

Eventually, the group split off into pairs and trios to heal and recover as best they could; this left Yasu and Yu together, and Yu - who was feeling better now that he’d had one of the restoratives Yukiko carried around in her bag - smirked at Yasu.

“So. You kissed me.”

The black-haired boy, who was still standing with an arm around Yu’s waist, looked away. “Yeah? So what? I had to, you were being _dumb_.” It was clear that he was trying to sound sullen, but only succeeded in coming across as embarrassed.

Yu grinned. “You _kissed_ me.”

“ _Ugh_ , shut up!” Yasu shot him a look. “Well, _you_ kissed back!” 

“Yeah, I did.” Yu’s voice grew soft, and he leaned in, taking Yasu’s hand as he kissed him again. Yasu didn’t even flinch; he smiled a little against Yu’s lips as he put a hand on the taller boy’s shoulder, kissing him back. It was soft, and warm, and better than anything Yu ever could have imagined; Yasu was under his fingertips, on his lips, in his lungs, and Yu still felt like he'd never get enough. When he finally pulled back, he took Yasu’s other hand, as well.

“Will you come back with us- with _me?_ I’m not going to assume, this time.” He couldn't hide the anxious note in his voice.

Yasu smiled. “Yeah. I will. I want to, partner.” 

No sooner had this last word left his mouth than his eyes grew as wide as saucers; he clamped a hand over his mouth, but the damage had been done. The rest of the group - who’d gathered, having finished getting themselves together - _looked_ at him, and Yosuke, after opening his mouth in surprise, shut it with a smirk. 

Yu, looking at Yasu, grinned, slipping his arm around his waist. “Sounds good, _partner_.” 

Yasu groaned, trying to push him away, but he looked pleased, if embarrassed; Yu didn’t even bother to hide his smile as he looked around the group.

“Let’s go home.”

* * *

Yasu had no problem leaving the TV with the rest of them; they gathered momentarily in the Junes food court to get some coffee - even if they’d all recovered, mostly, everyone was still feeling exhausted. Most of the day had passed, and the sun was already low on the horizon.

The black-haired boy, for his part, kept looking around; Rise teased him about it at one point, and he flushed. “I can’t help it. I saw a lot of this stuff through the TV, but it’s different _being_ here.” 

“Yeah.” Yu smiled. “I’m not sure where you’re going to stay, but we’ll figure something out, and you’ll have plenty of time to see everything. I’ll make sure of it.” 

Yosuke scratched his head. “I could see if I can pass him off as a long-lost cousin, or something?” A sigh. “I dunno. Lemme go home and kind of get a feel for how my parents would react. I kinda feel like... well, like he’s my brother, now, so if anybody, he should live with me.” 

Yu would have loved to have had Yasu stay with him and Souji, but he knew that Yosuke was right, so he just nodded. “Okay.”

Souji nodded. “I’ll go with Yosuke. Are you two going to hang out here?”

Yu looked at Yasu, then shook his head. “Nah. Uncle should be at work, right? And wasn’t Nanako spending the weekend with Mai-chan?”

“Yeah.” Souji nodded. “So our house is probably the best place for now.”

“Is all of this okay?” Yu looked at Yasu. “It’s your call.”

Yasu blinked, then nodded. “Uh. Yeah, I guess? I don’t know.” He started to look discouraged, but Yu wrapped an arm around his waist again.

“It’s okay. You belong here, now. Let’s just go back to my place so we can talk.”

Yasu gave him an embarrassed smile, and nodded. “Okay.”

* * *

The rest of the group had already headed home; once they were outside, the two couples split. After walking through the shopping district - with Yasu stopping every few feet to look in store windows - they found themselves on the floodplain slope that lead down and along the river. Yu took Yasu’s hand; they were quiet for a few minutes, but finally, the black-haired boy spoke up.

“I heard you, you know. Back in the shopping district, this morning.”

“Oh.” Yu flushed. _Was that really this morning? It feels so long ago._

Yasu looked as if he was trying to find the right words. Finally, he squeezed Yu’s hand. “Stop blaming yourself for everything, okay? Half the shit you said didn’t even make sense. You gave me a hell of a lot and didn’t really do anything that made me mad, so… stop thinking stupid things.” The silver-haired boy flushed at this, but Yasu continued before he could speak. “The reason I was crying that day… well. After you fought that asshole detective and I jumped in to save Yosuke, I thought, _oh hey I must be real now, maybe I can leave the TV!_ And I tried. And I couldn’t.”

“Oh. Oh, Yasu, I’m sorry…” Yu winced, remembering his words, but Yasu pinched him. 

“Stop. I figured it out, I had to come to terms with how I felt, both about Yosuke, and… about you.” He bit his lip. “And then I didn’t want to see you - well I did, but I knew I shouldn’t - because I needed to find myself.”

Frowning, Yu looked down. “I could have helped you.”

“Well... part of it was that I realised I needed to get to know Yosuke better. And then, uh…” He paused, and Yu realized that he was flushing. “I needed to figure out what _I_ liked, what was _me_ , without you picking it out for me.”

His words felt like a knife; Yu started to pull away. “I would _never_ force my interests on you, I don’t know why-”

“No!” Yasu grabbed his hand, holding it tightly enough that Yu couldn’t step back. “Duh, I _know_ that, idiot! I didn’t say you would. But… you _would_ have shown me what you liked, and then…” He flushed harder, and Yu had to lean in to hear the rest of his muttered sentence. “Do you know how hard it is for me to say no to you?”

“...Oh.” At these words, Yu flushed, too, and a grin tugged at the corner of his lips. Embarrassed but pleased, he squeezed Yasu’s hand. “ _Oh_. Well, I guess I should take advantage of that.” He took a deep breath. “Will you go out with me?”

Yasu looked away, but Yu could see his smile even with his head turned. “ _Duh_.” 

Yu stopped walking; Yasu - surprised - turned to look at him, and when he did, Yu slid his hand around the back of the shorter boy’s neck, pulling him in for a long, slow kiss. They stood like that as twilight deepened around them; eventually Yasu pulled back with a sigh. 

“You know… I wanted to surprise you. I was gonna work with Yosuke until I could get out of that place, then show up one day, here in the real world. I guess that’s out now.”

“ _Dude_. You kissed me and saved me from becoming a drifting shadow again.” Yu chuckled. “I think that counts.”

“True.” Yasu looked at him with a speculative expression. “I should check and make sure it worked, though.” Leaning in, he put both hands on Yu’s, kissing him again; Yu just gave a shuddering sigh, turning his hands to catch Yasu’s, twining their fingers together.

* * *

It was a long walk home; every so often Yu would pull Yasu into the shadows and kiss him. The black-haired boy would just smirk, and they’d start walking again, until Yu stopped again, repeating the cycle.

As they walked up the hill, leaving the floodplain, Yu took a deep breath. Looking sideways at Yasu, he squeezed his boyfriend’s hand.

“I love you, you know.”

Yasu’s eyes widened at this; it was dark, but Yu could still tell that he was blushing. Looking away, he rubbed his neck, before squeezing his boyfriend’s hand so hard that it was almost painful. ”ughwhateveriloveyoutoo”

Yu raised an eyebrow at this. “Huh?”

The shorter boy looked over. “I… love you, too. _Ugh_. So sappy.” A pause. "Partner."

Smiling, Yu squeezed his hand again; he was about to say something, but they’d just walked up to the Dojimas’ house and Yu froze, seeing lights on in the window.

“Oh, _shit_. Nanako must be home, I don’t see uncle’s truck, oh shit, okay, we’ll say you’re-”

Before he could finish, the door burst open and Nanako flew out. Throwing her arms around Yu’s waist, she grinned up at both of them. 

“Big bro! Yasu-nii! Welcome home! Did I surprise you?”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 10 (final) of What Came from the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Many thanks to V-Gurl for the prompt that sparked this (there will be more Yu/Souji twin stories coming, I'm just going to spread them out!) and for all of you who mentioned how much you love Yasu's black hair, you have RythmisticBlues to thank. I'd never thought of it before, but now I can't imagine Yasu any other way.
> 
> Sorry if I haven't explained things to everyone's satisfaction; I really _didn't_ want to make the story go on another 2-3 chapters, and I figured sometimes things are gonna happen that nobody knows why.
> 
> Honestly, I love Yu and Yasu so much that there _might_ be more stories in the future for them? Who knows?
> 
> I'll be returning to Thawing a Frozen Heart after this, as well as following up on some other fic ideas I've had over the past week or two.

Yasu tensed as the little girl ran up and threw her arms around Yu’s waist; he realised, from what Yosuke had told him, that this must be Nanako, Yu’s cousin. Seeing the gentle smile with which the silver-haired boy greeted her, Yasu started to feel jealous; just then, however, she turned to him with a huge smile of her own. 

“Yasu-nii! Hi!” She threw her arms around his waist, too, and he found himself tensing again, even as her smile completely erased every trace of jealousy. Looking up, he saw Yu’s gentle smile turned on him, as well; hesitantly, he patted the little girl’s hair. 

“Uh. Hi, N-nanako?”

She giggled and turned back to Yu; Yasu found himself feeling a little stunned. ... _I guess I get why Yosuke says everybody loves Nanako. And wait. How does she know me?_

He looked up at Yu, who seemed just as confused; Nanako, however, didn’t seem to notice that anything was up, still chattering happily.

“Dad says he won’t be home tonight, but for Yu-nii or Souji-nii to call him. And we can order sushi! Are Souji-nii and Yosuke-nii coming for dinner, too?”

“I uh. I don’t know.” Yu looked bewildered. “Let’s go inside, Nanako. I’ll call uncle, and we’ll see what’s up.”

“Okay!” Yasu barely had time to parse the conversation before the little girl had grabbed his hand. “Come on, Yasu-nii! Let’s watch _Loveline_ while big bro calls uncle!”

Yu gave him that _gentle_ smile again, and Nanako’s hand was warm and comfortable in his, and the house she pulled him into was bright and cheerful. Despite all the confusion, Yasu found himself relaxing.

_Maybe everything’s going to work out._

* * *

Dojima picked up after a couple of rings. “Inaba Municipal, Dojima speaking.” He sounded tired, and Yu winced.

“Uncle, it’s Yu. Nanako said you wanted me to call?”

“Oh, Yu. Hey. Yeah, I just wanted to let you guys know that we had a breakthrough in Adachi’s case - he suddenly just woke up a couple of hours ago, and while he’s not telling us what we want, he’s letting enough slip that we’re building quite a case against him. I’m not exactly happy about it, but… at least we got him.”

“Yeah, just don’t overdo it, okay?”

“Thanks, Yu. Listen, I already told Nanako, but go ahead and order sushi for dinner. And yes, before you ask, it’s okay if the Hanamura twins come over. It’s not like one or both of them aren’t here five nights out of ten, anyway. “ A wry chuckle. “And if you guys plan any sleepovers, just leave a note to let me know who’s where so I don’t get worried again.” Yu swore he could hear his uncle shaking his head over the phone. “And somebody has to stay home to watch Nanako. And if either Yosuke or Yasu _do_ stay over, just…” An exhale.” Don’t be stupid.”

Dojima’s tone of voice was the same he’d used when Yu had overheard him talking to Souji about Yosuke, and it floored him. Hesitantly, he cleared his throat. “So, it’s okay if Yasu spends the night?”

“Isn’t that what I just said? Listen… you and your brother aren’t stupid, and I’m not going to treat you like you are. Just keep an eye on your cousin, I don’t want to hear her asking awkward questions later.”

“Okay, Uncle.” Yu still felt thoroughly confused, but he wasn’t going to argue. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem. I gotta go now. Don’t be late to school tomorrow.”

Dojima hung up, and Yu stared in bewilderment at the phone for a few moments, before heading back to the kotatsu. Yasu was sitting with Nanako, watching _Loveline_ ; between the two, the black-haired boy looked even more enthralled by the show than the little girl, and Yu couldn’t help smiling at the sight. Slipping into his normal spot at the kotatsu, he pulled out his phone as the others finally realised he was there, looking over.

“Where are Souji-nii and Yosuke-nii, big bro?”

“They went to get some stuff from Yosuke’s house.” Yu caught Yasu’s eye, and smiled a little. “I’ll text them, and ask them what kind of sushi they want. Be thinking about what you want. I know, I know.” He and Nanako spoke at the same time. “No wasabi.” She giggled.

* * *

Souji and Yosuke hadn’t had too much time to talk before getting to the Hanamuras’; Yosuke lived a lot closer to Junes, due to the fact that everyone in his family worked there. When they got to the front door, Yosuke sighed, looking up at the front of the house. 

_I have no idea how this is going to work._

Beside him, Souji squeezed his hand, gently. “We’ll figure it out,” he said, quietly. 

Squaring his shoulders, the brunette smiled. “Yeah. We will.” He leaned over to give his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek, before opening the door; stepping inside, he called, 

“‘m home!”

They were just slipping out of their shoes when they heard hurried footsteps on the stairs; it was Mrs. Hanamura.

“Yosuke! Honey. Where’s Yasu?”

The brunette froze. “Uh. Yasu?” Beside him, he felt Souji stiffen as well.

“Your brother?” She raised an eyebrow, looking over the stair railing to see if it was just the two boys. “Yasuharu? Hmm, no, and I don’t see Yu-kun. Are they at your place, Souji-kun?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Souji nodded. “They’re studying.” 

Her face softened. “That’s nice. I was so proud when Yasu got such good scores on this past exam.” Yosuke, while feeling completely and utterly confused, was glad that, for once, his mother was such a talker - _saves us trying to make up stories ourselves_. 

Meanwhile, she’d come downstairs - he noticed that she was wearing her Junes blouse, which meant she was on her way into work - and as she grabbed her purse, she leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Tell Yasu that your father wants him to learn how to how to handle the shipment logging in the loading dock tomorrow. I really _don’t_ know why he hasn’t been put out there yet, but whatever. As long as you show him what he needs to know. Are you eating here? Going out?”

“Uh.” He and Souji looked at each other. “Probably going to the Dojimas’, Mom.”

“All right. Make sure Teddie doesn’t stuff himself on topsicles before bed. I think he’s eating dinner with Kanji-kun. Oh no.” She looked at her watch. “I really have to go. Bye, sweetie! Bye, Souji-kun! Tell Yu-kun I said hello!”

And then she was gone, and Yosuke was completely, thoroughly, and utterly confused. “How the hell?”

He looked at Souji, who was just as confused. “I don’t know.” Shaking his head, he nodded to the stairs. “We should check out your room, if we’re going to talk about it - I don’t want your dad walking in on this conversation.”

“Nah, he’s working. But you’re right.” 

They climbed the stairs, and Yosuke pushed open the door to his room - and froze. “What the-”

Teddie’s cubbie was still there, exactly as it always was - with a half-made futon and magazine cutouts and snack wrappers under the futon - but Yosuke’s bed was now a bunk bed. Yosuke’s laptop was sitting on the bottom bunk; there was a PC tower and a medium-sized monitor on the desk that he so rarely ever used. The closet was packed full of clothing - some of which was unfamiliar - and there were a handful of other differences around the room (such as the pile of basketball magazines spread out half-under the bed.)

The brunette stepped inside, slowly looking around. “Holy shit. Holy _shit_ , Souji, what the hell is going on?”

His beanbag chair was still there, behind the desk - Souji fished it out and sat down in it, as he usually did. He looked as confused as Yosuke - which made Yosuke feel a little better - and sighing, the brunette flopped down on the rug next to his boyfriend, putting his head on Souji’s knee. Souji started to run his fingers through his hair, and as happened every time, Yosuke slowly started to relax.

“I really don’t know.” Souji’s voice was quiet. “Didn’t you mention once that your parents seemed weirdly prepared for Teddie, though?”

“Huh. Yeah.” He rolled over onto his back so that Souji could reach more of his head. “I didn’t even realise we had a spare futon, and… huh.” 

Souji nodded, stroking his boyfriend’s hair off his forehead. “Nobody noticed that I had a sudden twin, either, and no matter how worried everyone was about my mother, I refuse to believe that my uncle and grandmother saw no reason to question - I mean, grandmother was _there_ when I was born.” He shrugged. “Why? How? I have no idea.”

“I guess so-” Just then, he felt something under his back. “Your phone is buzzing.” Reluctantly, he sat up so that Souji could dig it out of his pocket; turning around, tucking his feet underneath his crossed legs, he watched Souji raise an eyebrow as he read a text.

“It’s from Yu. He says one, that Uncle and Nanako apparently know Yasu already, and two, what do we want for sushi and when are we coming over, Nanako keeps asking for us.”

Yosuke’s eyes lit up. “Hotate!” 

His boyfriend smothered a chuckle. “Figured as much.” He started typing. “And the rest just plays out with what we were talking about, you know?” Sending the text, he held up a hand.

Yosuke, who knew just how prone that bean bag chair was to swallow its victims, helped him stand up. “Yeah, it does. I guess we should head over, then?”

“Yeah, sounds like Nanako is home but Uncle will be busy.” Still holding Yosuke's hand, Souji pulled him into a gentle embrace; the brunette took a deep breath.

“Sounds good.”

* * *

Yasu had to admit that the TV show that Nanako was watching was kind of neat - although he was more interested in the concept of TV as a whole. When it was over, he looked up to find Yu watching him; embarrassed, he looked down at the table, as Nanako stood up. 

“Uh. I have homework, big bro…” 

“Go ahead and get it.” Yu smiled at her; at his voice, Yasu looked up, seeing the little girl skip out of the room. When she was gone, Yu patted the cushion next to him. “There’s going to be too many of us for us each to have our own side. Sit with me?”

There was still a note of shyness in his voice, and Yasu couldn’t resist smiling at it, even though he _tried_. Scooting around the table, he took the cushion, stretching his legs out under the kotatsu. “It’s warm.”

“Yeah.” Yu smiled. “Kotatsu are nice, although we won’t need it for too much longer. A thought struck him as he looked down at Yasu. “Damn, I didn’t even think about it… weren’t you cold on the walk here?”

Yasu, in his sleeveless jersey, looked at his arms. “I don’t know? I didn’t particularly notice anything.” He thought back to their walk and the fact that half the time Yu had been holding onto him, and he couldn’t help but flush. 

Hearing a quiet chuckle, he looked up; Yu must have been thinking the same thing, because he was smiling. Leaning over, he put a hand on the kotatsu and brushed his lips across Yasu’s. “You can borrow a coat when you leave. I’m not risking you getting sick.” 

Trying - and failing - to hold back a shiver, Yasu mumbled ”ughI’llbefine”, just getting the words out before Yu kissed him; as had happened each time before, his thoughts started to go fuzzy. After a few moments, they were startled by the sound of a girlish giggle; when he jerked away, he realised he’d been clinging to Yu’s jacket. Embarrassed, he stared down at the kotatsu; above his head, he heard Yu speak.

“Oh, sorry about that, Nanako.”

“It’s okay!” She ran over, dropping a sheet of paper and some crayons onto the table. “It just means you and Yasu-nii love each other, like Souji-nii and Yosuke-nii. Everybody knows already!”

“Everybody, huh?” Yu looked down at Yasu, who’d finally raised his eyes, and smiled. “Well, good. Now, let’s see if we can knock this homework out of the way before dinner gets here, I asked Souji and Yosuke to pick it up.”

“Okay!”

* * *

The others eventually showed up, and the five of them ate dinner; the conversation was light - to avoid confusing Nanako, who dominated most of the discussion, anyway - and Yasu mostly stayed quiet at Yu’s side, surreptitiously watching the others to make sure he wasn’t screwing anything up. Coffee that afternoon had been pretty good, but this sushi was on a whole new level of delicious.

As dinner progressed, he grew curious; there was a mound of green stuff in the middle of the tray and everybody - except Nanako - was taking pieces of it to eat with their sushi. Yu clearly loved it - he had an entire ball of it on his plate that he was eating on everything, including his rice, so Yasu figured it must be good. Reaching out with his chopsticks, he snagged a little piece, and ate it.  
_  
Oh god what is this is this chemical warfare is it poison what the_ fuck _why do they make food in this world that can kill you?_ His tongue felt like it was on fire; gagging, he grabbed his tea and started to drain it. Across the table, Souji and Yosuke were snickering; Nanako, next to him, looked concerned.

“Are you okay, Yasu-nii? Let me get you some water!” 

It wasn’t until he looked up that he saw the heartbroken look on Yu’s face. “I thought you’d like spicy things,” he mumbled, and across the table, Souji cracked up.

“I told you, your tastebuds are dead. If he can't handle wasabi, he won't want _anything_ you cook.”

For one terrible moment, Yasu thought he’d offended Yu; looking up again, however, he saw a smile playing at the corner of his boyfriend’s mouth. “Guess I’ll just have to start learning how to cook with less-spicy ingredients.” 

Across the table Souji looked shocked, and Yu smirked at him.

* * *

After Yu and Souji put Nanako to bed - she’d insisted on kissing Yasu and Yosuke good-night on the cheek as well, and Yasu found himself wondering if there was any way to trade her for Teddie - and once she was asleep, everybody reconvened around the kotatsu. 

Yu shared his uncle’s news, about Adachi; Yasu couldn’t help clenching his hands around his mug. “Does that mean he’s going to stay locked up?”

“Mmm?” Yu looked over at him, then squeezed his wrist. “I hope so. Uncle’s good, I’m sure they’ll manage to make it stick. He murdered people, after all. They can’t get him for what he did to me, but… that’s okay.”

Yasu didn’t really agree, but he also knew it wasn’t something he could - or should - argue about. Looking down at the brown liquid, he sighed; under the kotatsu, Yosuke nudged his foot with his own. 

“Hey, good news. I have no idea what’s going on or how, but you’re already living with us. Mom called you my brother - your name is Yasuharu, apparently - and when we checked out the room, it’s all set up as if you’ve lived there forever.”

Looking up, Yasu blinked. “I- _how?_ ” He felt dazed. _Can it really be this easy?_

His brother shrugged. “Heck if I know. It’s pretty cool, though.” He grinned at Yasu, and Yasu looked away quickly, before looking back and returning the grin.

At the brunette’s side, Souji shared the discussion he and Yosuke had about it; at the end, Yu shrugged. “Honestly, at this point, we’re not gonna know, are we? Even Naoto would only be able to ‘conjecture.’” He made air quotes with his fingers. “Heck, who knows? Maybe it’s something to do with Izanagi, or whatever. Honestly, in the end, all that matters is that Yasu is here and he’s staying.” He shot his boyfriend a glance that said a lot more, and Yasu felt his cheeks growing hot. 

“Now.” Yu continued, hiding the smile that appeared at Yasu’s reaction. “Tonight. Uncle’s not going to be home. He said we could have sleepovers, as long as somebody stays with Nanako, and we don’t miss class tomorrow.”

“ _Uncle_.” Souji sighed. “We’ve _never_ missed class.”

“Eh. He’s just being careful.” Yosuke brushed his bangs out of his eyes. “Mom and Dad are working the night shift, too, and Mom wanted somebody home to make sure Teddie doesn’t eat all the topsicles in the house like he did last month, soo…” He looked at Souji. “Wanna come over?”

Souji looked over at Yasu and Yu, then back at Yosuke and nodded. “Sure. I’ll grab my things. If that’s okay?” He directed this at Yasu, who looked startled.

“Huh?” After a second, he realised. _That means I’m sleeping here, with Yu_. “Uh. Yeah, sure?” He swallowed, trying to look less nervous than he was, but under the kotatsu he felt Yu put a hand over his, and squeeze. The look on the silver-haired boy’s face said that he understood, which put Yasu a little more at ease. “But what’s that about school tomorrow?”

“Oh, man.” Yosuke hit his forehead. “Damn, I should have brought you a uniform. Shit, sorry, Yas.”

“He can borrow one of mine.” Souji smiled. “Yu’s got wider shoulders than I do, my uniform will fit Yasu better.”

Yu looked speculatively at Yasu, who _really_ wished that he’d stop ( oknotreally); he was getting a little sick of blushing. Finally, his boyfriend nodded. “Yeah, that works. And don’t worry, Yasu. School isn’t too bad, and we’ll all help you get caught up.”

“He’s already been reading my textbooks.” Yosuke nodded. “I mean I know that’s not the best, but. And mom said something about him doing really well on the last exam, so… I get the idea he’ll be fine.”

Souji smiled. “I saw some basketball magazines under your bed. I know they’re not Yosuke’s.” The brunette grimaced, and everybody laughed. “Well, maybe you’re already on the basketball team, but if you’re not, then you can join next year. I play basketball, it’ll be fun.”

Yasu - who _did_ like basketball, and had since Yosuke had shown him some magazines and, later, some downloaded videos - felt his face light up. “Really? That would be _cool!_ ” 

“Yeah.” Next to him, Yu gave him a warm smile that made his toes feel like they were curling under the kotatsu, and while he was trying to fight off yet _another_ blush, Souji and Yosuke stood. 

“All right, then. I’ll grab my overnight bag and then we’ll head out. Good night, you guys.”

* * *

Yu and Yasu saw them out, and then - when the door closed and it was just the two of them - Yu put an arm around Yasu’s waist. “I’m going to do the dishes - there aren’t many. Do you want to take a shower while I do?”

“Uh. Sure, I guess?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You don’t mind me spending the night, right?”

Yu looked surprised at this. “Of course not. I’m happy to be with you.” Putting his other arm around Yasu, he pulled the black-haired boy close, bumping their foreheads together. “I told you before, I _missed_ you.” His voice was low, and Yasu could feel Yu's breath against his lips, and he couldn’t help but shiver. 

“G-good.” Trying to play it off, he looked away, and Yu chuckled quietly.

“Don’t worry. You can sleep in Souj’s bunk, or on the couch, or we can bring out the guest futon.” He kissed Yasu’s forehead. “Okay, let’s go upstairs.”

Yu showed Yasu the bathroom, then left him with some clean pajamas to change into; Yasu had to admit that a hot shower was probably one of the best things he’d ever experienced, and he was just drying his hair when he heard Yu come up the stairs and stop outside the door. 

“Dishes are done, I’ve got some drinks for us, and I’ll be in the bedroom. It’s just next door. Take your time.”

Yasu looked around, then hung his towel on the only hook he could find; when he got to the bedroom, he found the door open. Yu was sitting on the sofa, head back as he drank from a bottle of water; the black-haired boy couldn’t stop his eyes from tracing his boyfriend’s throat as Yu swallowed, and the room suddenly felt a lot hotter than it had been.

When he was done drinking, Yu looked up; seeing Yasu in the doorway, he smiled. “Oh, hey. How was it?”

“If I’d had hot showers in the TV world, I might never have left.” 

Laughing, Yu put his water down - Yasu saw that there was an unopened bottle next to it, as well as a bag that said _arare_ , which he assumed was a snack - and walked over. 

“Oh, so there’s nothing that could have tempted you to leave? My heart.” He put a hand up to his chest, but his smile was still gentle, and Yasu couldn’t help but shove his shoulder.

“You’re an asshole, and you know better.” 

“Mmm.” Yu leaned in, although he hovered a few inches away from Yasu’s face without coming any closer; Yasu was starting to understand Yu’s moods, and - poking his boyfriend in the side - he leaned up to give Yu a quick kiss. This netted him another goofy, happy smile, and the silver-haired boy grabbed some clothes from the bottom bunk in the corner of the room. “Okay, my turn. There’s some water on the table, and feel free to get into the crackers. Just avoid the green ones, they’re wasabi.”

Yasu pulled a face. “Gross. Thanks.”

While he sat on the couch, listening to the water run next door - trying very hard _not_ to think about Yu in the shower, and _why do I keep remembering that stupid time he came into the stupid TV without a stupid shirt on_ \- Yasu munched on the rice crackers, which were actually pretty good. He took a look around the room; it was relatively tidy and not full of too many _things_. Neither of the twins struck him as collectors, but there were some pretty awesome giant robot models on a shelf underneath a lamp, and Yasu walked over to look at them.

He was just examining one that looked like it transformed into a spaceship when he heard footsteps behind him at the same time that he realised the water had stopped running; Yu put his chin on Yasu’s shoulder and an arm around his waist. “Like ‘em? I built most of those this year.”

“They’re really cool.” Yasu leaned back, and was rewarded when Yu wrapped both arms around him. “Wouldn’t mind building one myself.”

“We could build some together?”

 _That actually… sounds pretty awesome_. “That would be cool.” He turned, smiling, and Yu looked as if he was about to lean in to kiss him, but as Yasu closed his eyes Yu made a startled sound, then tugged his boyfriend over a bit. 

“Yasu. Open your eyes.”

“Eh?” Blinking, Yasu complied, realising he was standing under the lamp now. Yu looked at him, eyebrows knit, then broke into a grin.

“Your eyes.”

“My eyes?” Yasu was at a loss to what Yu even _meant_ , but his boyfriend - still smiling - tugged at him again and pulled him over to the wall, where a full-length mirror hung beside the wardrobe. 

“Take a look.”

Yu was still standing behind Yasu, arms wrapped around him, and for a moment, all Yasu could see was his boyfriend. Still, the look on Yu’s face made him curious, so he leaned closer, and realised that his eyes were no longer gold, but were instead a clear, pale honey-brown. His startled expression made Yu smile, and Yasu could see the smile, peripherally, in the mirror, but he leaned forward, focused on his own face. 

“I don’t get it. I tried to change them in the TV but they wouldn’t!”

“Mmm, I wonder.” Yu leaned in next to him, smiling at him in the mirror. “Mine aren’t gold anymore, either, you know. I think it’s just something about being outside the TV, or maybe being human.” He leaned closer, and Yasu could smell his shampoo; it was the same one he’d used, and he couldn’t help feeling a little overheated again. Yu, however, seemed oblivious.

“They’re lighter than Yosuke’s, and his are more brown, whereas yours are more yellow. They look good.” The black-haired boy felt himself relax at this, but then he felt Yu’s lips on his neck and his eyes flew back to the mirror even as he bit back a moan. 

His boyfriend’s cheeks were pink, and there was an expression on his face that looked - shy? Yasu couldn’t tell, but it made him flush, too, and want to not look away. Leaning forward, Yu put his lips to Yasu’s ear, still holding his gaze in the mirror. 

“I meant it earlier when I said you look good.” Softly, he kissed Yasu’s ear; Yu’s voice was low, and the jolt that thrilled through Yasu’s body was almost enough to make his knees buckle. His boyfriend’s arms tightened around his waist, and the silver-haired boy moved his lips down, ghosting them along Yasu’s jaw. “You’ve always looked good. You could have changed in a million ways, or not at all, and I’d still love you, but… this, right here, this looks _really good_.” His voice dropped again, and Yasu tightened his hands on Yu’s arms - crossed in front of him - moaning even as he watched everything in the mirror. 

“I-” It was _really_ hard to talk - hell, it was hard to _think_ \- and the black-haired boy’s voice came out almost strangled. “You look good, too. Really good. You always have.”

“I’m glad you think so.” Yu buried his face in the back of Yasu’s neck for a moment, then took a deep, shuddering breath as he stepped back. Frowning, Yasu turned around.

“Yu?”

Yu smiled, and the amount of love in his eyes almost knocked Yasu over, but the silver-haired boy just reached out and stroked his boyfriend’s hair. “You can take Souj’s bunk, the couch, or I can set up the futon on the floor, alongside my bunk. Or-” He paused. “You can sleep with me. I-” Swallowing, Yu took both of Yasu’s hands, bringing them up to kiss his fingertips, and Yasu felt his heart skip. “I don’t want to push you, and we can just sleep together. Hold each other. Maybe a little of this-” He leaned in, placing another kiss on Yasu’s neck before pulling back again. “But nothing that makes you uncomfortable, and-”

Yasu wasn’t sure how far he _did_ want to take things, but he knew one thing - he couldn’t handle the teasing any longer. Grabbing Yu’s shirt - like he’d done back in the TV world - he pulled his boyfriend in, cutting his words off with a hungry kiss. Yu looked surprised, but by no means unhappy; tangling a hand in Yasu’s hair, he wrapped his arms back around the black-haired boy, kissing him just as deeply.

Eventually, Yasu pulled back, panting. “With you,” he said. “We’ll figure it out as we go.”

The look in Yu’s eyes was happy enough to make Yasu’s heart skip again. Nodding, the silver-haired boy put his hands on Yasu’s waist, slowly walking him backwards towards the bed. “We’ll figure it out.” His voice was low, and husky, and as he pushed Yasu back onto the bed and climbed over him, the black-haired boy shivered again.

Dropping his head, Yu started kissing and sucking along Yasu’s neck; with each brush of his lips, Yasu’s thoughts grew hazier, and he found himself thinking back to the TV world. He’d fallen in love with this boy so _stupidly_ long ago, he couldn’t remember a time in which he hadn’t waited for footfalls, waited to hear his _stupid_ voice or see his _stupid_ , gentle smile. And now… now, they could be together as often as they wanted. And Yasu knew he’d want it, _very_ often. _Always._

As Yu’s kisses got hotter and hotter, Yasu’s mind finally drowned, giving itself into the pleasure; as he ran his hands up Yu’s back, one last thought flitted through his head.

 **This** _is why I stayed_.

* * *

_Bzzzzzzt!_

As the basketball swished through the hoop - not even touching the rim - the buzzer sounded the end of the game. “Two points to Yasu Hanamura! Yasogami High wins by one point!” The announcer sounded excited; the home crowd went wild, and Yasu grinned, jogging over to give a double high-five to both Souji and Kou.

In the bleachers, more than a few of the spectators cheering were girls. One of them, front and centre, turned to her friend, mid-squeal. “Ohhhhhmigosh, Yasu-senpai is _so hot!_ ”

“I _knowww!_ Ahh!” Her friend was just fanning herself when Yasu looked up and over at them and winked; the first girl froze, gripping her friend’s arm.

“.... _ohmygod did you SEE?_ ”

Her friend, however, sighed, shaking her head. “Look behind us.”

Yu was sitting behind them, wearing his soccer uniform; he was smiling at the court - and, obviously, Yasu - with a grin that nobody could mistake, and the first girl deflated.

“ _Awwww_. That’s no fair, I didn’t know they were dating!” She pouted as her friend looked at her.

“How did you _not_ know? Remember how Yu-senpai turned away, like, everybody at Valentine’s Day? Apparently that’s when they started! I heard it was _super_ romantic, too!” 

Both girls sighed, and the first one continued to pout. “ _Ugh_ , that’s no fair, I mean, how are there _two sets_ of hot twins here and they’re both dating each other! It’s not _fair!_ ”

Her friend patted her on the shoulder, sympathetically; Yu, meanwhile - who’d been ignoring the girls around them, for the most part - nodded to Yosuke, who was sitting next to him. “Let’s go.”

They headed down to the court, now that the crowd was starting to clear out; the team had just finished their post-game huddle, and Souji and Yasu walked over to meet them, both looking tired but happy.

“Great game, guys.” Yosuke gave his brother a high-five, then kissed Souji’s cheek. “Both of you.”

“Yeah.” Yu grinned. “Good shot, Yasu.”

“Mhm.” Yasu grinned in return. He looked at the others. “So, we heading into Okina today?”

It was Saturday, which meant they’d only had a half-day of school; with the game, it was still only mid-afternoon. “Yeah. I talked to Uncle about it last night.” Yu nodded. “He said it’s my call, and it’ll be my fault if I end up looking like a scarecrow.”

“Eh. You’ll be fine.” Yosuke grinned. “Mom and Dad finally gave me the okay this week, too, after I aced that exam.” 

“All right.” Souji nodded. “Yasu and I need to grab showers, and then we’ll be ready to go.”

“I need to change, too.” Yu nodded, and the group split.

* * *

“ _Uggghhh_ come _on_.” Yasu sat in the waiting room; he knew Yu was going to be a while, but dammit, he wanted to _see_. 

Finally, after entirely too long, he heard his boyfriend’s voice behind the curtain; he was thanking the stylist, and when he stepped out, Yasu hurried over. 

Yu had stopped, and was waiting for his opinion; he looked nervous, and although Yasu knew immediately that it looked as good as he’d thought it would, he took his time, walking a circle around his boyfriend. It wasn’t a _huge_ change overall, but it was for Yu; he’d had some platinum highlights and darker grey lowlights put in, and a much shorter haircut - short sides, with just enough length on top to show off the new colours - and it really suited him, making his jaw and cheekbones that much more pronounced. 

“Well?” His boyfriend had apparently gotten too nervous to wait any longer, and Yasu grinned, poking his nose.

“It looks amazing.” 

Yu heaved a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god.” He turned to pay the stylist, who’d been waiting with a smile; Yasu pulled out his phone, quickly typing up a text. Yu’s phone chirped; after taking his change, they walked outside, and he flipped it open to take a look. 

> if we were home i’d show you just how amazing i think it is 

His face turned red, and he looked at Yasu, who grinned, grabbing his hand. “Come on. The others should be done, soon.”

“Mmm.” Yu returned his grin, as they walked down the street. “You’ll follow up on that text later, right?”

“What do you think?” The black-haired boy winked at him; just then, they saw Souji and Yosuke walking towards them; Yosuke was holding an ice pack up to the side of his head, looking pained, but victorious.

“How’d it go?” Yasu winced. _So glad I took care of this stuff before I came out of the TV_.

“Pretty good.” The brunette grinned, taking the pack away to show his new ear cuff. Yasu - remembering his brother’s look when Souji had complimented his in the TV world, smirked.

“Like it, Souj?” Yu grinned at his brother.

“Yeah.” Souji smiled, blushing a little as he rubbed his nose; he was holding the bag of ear-care supplies Yosuke would need, and instead of his usual muted clothing, he was wearing a pair of shorts and a bright t-shirt. They’d stopped by to get him some new clothing, first; they’d all decided it’d be a “makeover” day for everybody, and Yosuke had been bugging Souji to wear some more casual clothes for a while.

Looking back up, Souji nodded at Yu. "Hair looks good, by the way." Souji was actually growing his hair out; it was still short in places, but some of it was long enough to pull back, and he had a small ponytail. While Yasu thought it suited him, he knew his brother _loved_ it.

As Yu smiled at his twin, Yasu looked back at Yosuke. “You hurt too much to get food? Because I’m starving.”

“Nah.” Yosuke laughed. “It’s bad, but not _that_ bad. I took some pain pills, anyway, because like hell am I gonna give up ramen!” He grinned at Souji, holding out a hand. “Shall we?”

His boyfriend took it; behind them, Yu smiled at Yasu, holding out _his_ hand. “Shall we?” Smirking, Yasu took it; as they started to follow the others, Yu leaned down to whisper in Yasu’s ear.

“Stay over tonight? Uncle’s out of town. Souj can stay with Yosuke.” 

With a blush and a grin, Yasu squeezed his boyfriend’s hand. “Of course I will, stupid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **hotate** \- scallop  
>  **arare** \- rice crackers  
>  **yes, I know wasabi isn't _that_ hot, but I hate it, and that's my reaction every time I mistakenly eat some**


End file.
